s^ 



^^ 



^ 




^"^ 



/^'I'-^'d accoruuii/UyAcio/'Conijress/'Ui/.^6"V3J,.6.iff/',y/rnmoris.i/ilJitCier^ 




>^^^^ /V€^ 




LIFE AND TIMES 



OF 



SILAS WRIGHT, 



LATE GOVKRNOR OK THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



BY JABEZ D; HAMMOND 



SYRACUSE: 
PUBLISHED BY HALL *fc DICKSON. 

NKVV YORK:— A. S. BARNES & CO. 

M JJCOC XLVin. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, m the year 1848, 

Br HALL & DICKSON, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 

District of New York. 



^ ^ 



PREFACE 



It was with great diffidence and reluctance that I undertook 
the work now offered to the public. My " Political History," 
which was published in the year 1842, had been better re- 
ceived than I had anticipated.' The press of both political 
parties had treated it not only with liberal indulgence, but 
with kindness ; and I had, perhaps wisely, certainly prudently, 
determined not to hazard, by another appearance before the 
public, the forfeiture of the favotiible opinion which had been 
expressed. Within two or three of the last years, friends re- 
siding in various parts of the stnte, belonging to different par- 
ties, have urged me to continue my narrative of political paities, 
but I have uniformly replied, that the difficulty of describing 
with accuracy and truth the conduct of men now acting a 
prominent part on the political theatre, without partiality to 
personal friends, (I am not aware that I have any enemies,) 
was so great, that I had not the temerity to engage in the en- 
terprise. But immediately after the sudden and unexpected 
death of the late Governor Wright, several gentlemen, whose 
opinions were entitled to my highest confidence and regard, 
requested me to compile th»' biographv of that distinguished 
statesman. Although I liad reason to doubt, and in truth did 
doubt, my ability to do justice to the memory of that great 
and good man, and to the reading public, I confess that I felt 
a desire to make the effort. In considering the course to be 
pursued in writing the Life of Mr. Wright, it immediately oc- 
curred to me, that for the last six or seven yeai-s he had 
been so connected with the political parties in this state, and 
his actions and fortunes had been so much influenced by the 



4 PREFACE. 

action and fate of those parties, that his life could not be 
written as it should be, without at the same time giving a 
pretty full account of many of the most distinguished poHti- 
cians in the state and nation, who have recently been active 
in public life, and who have to a considerable extent influenced 
public opinion ; and, in fact, that a correct and full history of 
Silas Wright from the year 1840 to the close of his admin- 
istration of the orovernment of this state in 1846, would ne- 
cessarily be the political history of the state during that period. 
I was tlius led to the attempt which has resulted in the pro- 
duction of what is contained in the following sheets. Those 
who may take the trouble of perusing them, will find that 
until the year 1841, to which time, by my former work, the 
political history of the state is brought down, I have confined 
myself entirely to the history of the Life of Wriglit. In con- 
tinuing the account of his life from the year 1840 to the close 
of his administration of the government of New York, the his- 
tory of the political parties which existed during that period 
is naturally and almost necessarily resumed and continued. 
After he retired from the gubernatorial chair, there remains 
to his biographer little other labor than the painful task of re- 
cording his death. 

So far as relates to that portion of this volume which treats 
of the political history of the state, I dare not hope that I 
have done full justice to the subject. 

I have not, during any part of the period about which I 
have written, personally mingled in the controversies which 
have prevailed. Indeed, I have not frequently within that 
time visited the seat of government, which is the great theatre 
of the operations of parties. It is therefore higlily probable 
that some material circumstances, which had an important bear- 
ing on the events which have occurred, may not have been 
known to me. My account of the movements of the whig- 
party, and of the action of distinguished whigs, may not be 



PREFACE. 



SO ample as is desirable it should have been ; and it will 
be found, and perhaps be a subject of complaint by some 
readers, that much more space is occupied in narratmg 
the conduct of the democratic than the whig party. The 
only reason I can offer for this is, that during much the 
greater part of the time from the close of the year 1840 to 
that of 1846, the whigs were in the minority, and therefore 
their party movements did not and could not engross so much 
of the attention of a spectator as the operations of that party 
which controlled the patronage and measures of the state. 
For the same reason, the dissensions among the whigs them- 
selves were not so visible, and could not be so accurately de- 
scribed as the feuds which have existed in the democratic 
party. The description of those feuds has imposed on me a 
task of great delicacy and difficulty. While on one great 
question about which the two sections of the democratic party 
differ, it is well known that I agree with the radicals, many, 
perhaps a majority of my most valued personal friends, belong 
to that section who have been denominated hunkers. My 
difficulties and embarrassments in the attempt to give a cor- 
rect account of these two sections, when I approached the 
year 1842, in consequence of the various currents, counter- 
currents, and under-currents which were put in motion, were 
increased to a degree almost insurmountable. How I have 
succeeded in working my way through this abyss " of neither 
sea nor good dry land," must be submitted to an intelligent, and, 
as by experience I have heretofore found, a hberal community. 
With respect to the principal object of this work, The Lifb 
OF Mr. Wright, I will merely remark, that in my judgment, 
to describe the man as he really was, and his actions, both ia 
pubUc and private life, as they truly were, was the imperious 
duty of his biographer ; and that a simple narrative, " a plain 
tale," embracing those objects, is the best eulogy of a great 
and good man. 

1* 



6 PREFACE. 

The chapter which contains the account of the proceedings 
of the convention to revise the constitution, is a mere digest 
of the reports of the doings of that body. " It has been made 
principally from the reports as published by Messrs. Croswell 
and Sutton. 

It is believed that it will be found to present a pretty clear 
view of the material points decided by the convention, and of 
the course of reasoning which led to the results to which that 
assembly arrived, so abbreviated, simplified, and arranged as 
will enable the student of constitutional law, by a few hours' 
reading, to acquaint himself with the great and leading princi- 
ples which controlled the action of the framers of our present 
constitution. 

* Many important suggestions and interesting facts have been 
kindly communicated to me by gentlemen attached to differ- 
ent political parties and sections of parties. In compiling this 
work, I have made a free and liberal use of those facts and 
suggestions. It would give me great pleasure were I permit- 
ted to mention the names of these gentlemen ; but I do not 
feel authorized to do so without their express consent, and I 
therefore avail myself of the present occasion to return them 
my cordial thanks. 

The free access to the files of the Albany Argus, the Even- 
ing Journal, and the Albany Alias, which has been courteous- 
ly accorded to me by the conductors of those journals, has 
greatly facilitated my labors ; but I am more especially in- 
debted to the connections and friends of Gov. Wrioht, who 
reside in the county of St. Lawrence, for much valuable in- 
formation respecting the private life and character of that vir- 
tuous citizen and eminent statesman. 

J. D. H. 

Cherry Valley, May 1, 1848. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction — Birth and Childhood of Silas Wright — Academical and 
Collegiate Education — Remarks oa School-keeping by Students of the 
New England Colleges — He studies Law at Sandy Hill — Is admitted 
an Attorney of the Supreme Court — His Journey through Western 
New York — Locates himself in Canton, St. Lawrence County — The 
first Public Offices which he held — His services in the Militia of St 
Lawrence County Page 13 

CHAPTER n. 
Silas Wright at Home, 28 

CHAPTER HI. 

Commencement of Mr. Wright's Political Life — His Nomination and 
Election to the Senate of New York from the Fourth Senatorial Dis- 
trict — His action on the Bill providing for the Election of Presidential 
Electors by the People — His attachment to the Democratic Party — 
H. Seymour's Opinion of Mr. Wright — Governor Yates and Colonel 
Young — .Mr. Wright supports the renominution of Mr. Yates for Gov- 
ernor — De Witt Clinton's Removal from the Office of Canal Commis- 
sioner — Attempt to elect a Senator of the United States — Electoral 
Law of 1825 — Its Repeal in 1828 — Reflections thereon — Numerous 
Applications for Bank Charters in the year 1826 — Mr. Wright's Action 
upon those Applications 41 

CHAPTER IV. 

Result of the Election in November, 1825 — Mr. Wright's Influence in the 
Senate — His Manner of discussing Questions — Case of Jasper Ward — 
Mr. Wright's Report thereon — He is elected a member of Congress in 
November, 1826 66 

CHAPTER V. 

Mr. Clinton re-elected Governor and Gen. Pitcher Lieutenant-governor — 
Causes of this Result — .Mr. Wright's Confidential Letter to Mr. Van 
Buren in 1826 — Mr. Wright's Report on the Petition of David E. Evans 
— Mr. Flagg's Report on the Enlargement of the Erie Canal — .Mr. Rug- 
gles' Report on the State Finances, I'rom the Committee of Ways and 
Means — Mr. Van Buren re-elected to the Senate of the United States 
— Mr. Wright resigns his seat in the Senate of New York 78 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mr. Wright takes his seat a^ a Member of the Tweutieth Congress — 
Presidential Election and the Tariff Question — TarifT of 1816 — Tariif 



8 CONTENTS. 

Convention at Harrisbiirg — The Southern Scheme of conducting the 
Election — Committee on Manufacture* — Mr. Wright a Member of it — 
His Report — Debate thereon in the House of Representatives — Mr. 
Wright attends the State Convention at Herkimer as a Delegate — 
Ho is nominated, and again elected to Congress Page 97 

CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Wright is appointed Comptroller of the State — The Importance of 
that Office and its liigh Responsibilities — The Chenango and other pro- 
jected Canals— Mr. Wright's Report in 1830— General Fund— Mr. 
Wright attends the Slate Convention and successfully advocates the 
Nomination of Mr. Throop for Governor, who is elected — Mr. Wright 
elected Senator of the United States in the winter of 1833 113 

CHAPTER VII I. 

Senate of the United States — Mr. Gillet's contempkitod Work — Mr. 
Wright's vote on the Force Bill and the Compromise Bill — He opposes 
Mr. Clay's Land Bill — Gen. Jackson's conduct in relation to the Land 
Bill — Marriage of Mr. Wright — Removal of the Deposites from the Bank 
of the United States— Mr. Clay's Resolution, and Mr. Wnght's Speech 
thereon — His Speech on Mr. Webster's motion to Recharter the United 
States Bank — Session of l«34-5 — Mr. Wright elected a member of the 
Committees on Finance and Commerce — His Speech on the last day of 
the Ses)~iou — Mr. Van Bnren elected Vice-President — Mr. Wright is a 
Member of the Baltimore Convention at the Nomination of Van Bnren 
for President — Mr. Wright's conduct in the Senate in relation to the 
Anti-slavery movements — Bill for the Distribution of the Surplus Funds 
— Specie Circular — Mr. Wright elected Chairman of the Finance Com- 
mittee — In lb37, re-elected to the United States Senate by the New 
York Legislature ! 125 

CHAPTER IX. 

Suspension of Specie Payments by the Banks — Extra Session of Con- 
gress in September, 18:17 — Mr. Wright's Opinion on the Subject of the 
Suspension of the Banks and of the Independent Treasury, as expressed 
by him previous to the Extra Session of Congress — At the Extra Session 
Mr. Wright reports the Independent Treasury Bill — It passe.-i the Sen- 
ate, but is lost in the House of Representatives — He brings in the same 
bill at the Regular Session, but it fails of passing — July 4, lb4U, the 
Bill becomes a Law — Mr. Wright votes for Mr. Clay's Resolution iigahist 
any interference with Slavery in the District of Columbia — Mr. Wrioht's 
Oration delivered at Canton in 1839 — His Etforts to promote Mr. "Van 
Buren's Election in 1840 147 

CHAPTER X. 

Continuation of the Political History of the State of New York — Cata- 
logue of the Senators — Whig and Democratic Caucuses for nomination 
of Speaker — P. B. I'orter. Jr. chosen Speaker — Governor's Message — 
General Root's Re.solnlion to amend the Constitution of the United 
State.s — Virginia Coiilroveisy — 'I'lie (ilentworth Fraud — Removal of 
Robert H. Morris from the Office of Recorder of New York — Freder- 



CONTENTS. 9 

ick A. Tallmadge appointed his successor — Proceedings on the Bill to 
Abolish Capital Punishment — Bill for the appointment of County Su- 
perintendents of Common Schools — ^John C. Spencer — His talents and 
labors — E. S. Randall— Francis Dwight— General Harrison's Inaugu- 
ration—His Cabinet— His Death— Mr. Tyler's Cabinet— John C. Spen- 
cer Secretary of War— Trial and Acquittal of Alexander McLeod— 
William Kent appointed Circuit Judge of the First Circuit — Death of 
Bates Cook — Result of the election in November, 1841 Page 182 

CHAPTER XI. 

Levi S. Chatfield chosen Speaker of the Assembly — Unusual number of 
men of talents this year elected Members of that House — Isaac R. El- 
wood chosen Clerk of the Senate — Gov. Seward's Message — Comptrol- 
ler's Report — Dispute between the Governor and Senate on the Bill for 
the Repeal of the Law in relation to the Receivers of Insolvent Banks 
— Caucus for nominating State Officers — A. C. Flagg, Comptroller, S. 
Young, Secretary of State, George P. Barker, Attorney-general, Thom- 
as Fiirrington, Treasurer. Nathaniel Jones, Surveyor-general — Canal 
Commissioners — Debates in the Senate and Assembly on the Fm;inceB 
—Mr. Hoffman's Speech— Mr. Flagg's Report— Mr. Hoffman's Finan- 
cial Bill of 1842 — It passes the Assembly — Proceedings in the Senate 
thereon — Mr. Dickinson's Substitute, and Messrs. Foster's and Faulk- 
ner's Amendments — The People's Resolutions — Indications of Dissen- 
sions in the Democratic and Whig Parties — Virginia Controversy again 
discussed — Bill for removing the State Printer— Vetoed by the Governor 
— Proceedings in Congress — Mr. Wright's Speech on the Loan Bill — 
His Speech on the Bill for dividing the States into single Congressional 
Districts — New Tariff Bill — Mr. Wright's Speech on this Bill — Demo- 
cratic State Convention — William C. Bouck nominated for Governor — 
He is elected — D. S. Dickinson elected Lieutenant-governor 249 

CHAPTER XII. 

George R. Davis nominated and elected Speaker — Governor's Message — 
Gov. Bouck's Birth and Education — Lyman Sanford appointed Adju- 
tant-general — Agitation of the Presidential Question at Washington — 
Proceedings on board the Brig Somers, and death of Mr. Philip Spencer 
— South Carolina Legislature nominate Mr. Calhoun for President — 
Character of the State Officers in 1843 — Course of the Governor — Con- 
test respecting State Printer — E. Croswell, H. H. Van Dyck — E. Crom- 
well appointed State Printer — Albany Atlas — Mr. Wright re-elected 
United States Senator — Mr. Dickinson's Resolution in relation to the 
conduct of Gov. Bouck as Canal Commissioner — The distribution of th? 
Books containing the result of the Geological Survey — Young and 
Dickinson — Bill for abolishing the Office of Bank Commissioner — Re- 
jection by the Senate of nominations made by the Governor 315 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Character of Leading Members of the Legislature of 1844 — Democratic 
Caucus for Speaker— Mr. Litchfield nominated and elected — James R. 
Rose elected Clerk — Governor's Message — Meeting at Albany of the 
friends of a Convention — Formation of the Committees of the AJssembiy 



10 CONTENTS. 

— Mr. Foster's Resolution for the Reduction of Postage — Mr. Foster 
elected President pro tern, of the Senate — Death of Judge Cowen — 
Samuel Beardsiey appointed Justice of the Supreme Court — Death of 
Gen. P. B. Porter — James V. L. Pruyn and James J. Wadsworth ap- 
pointed Regents of the University — J. P. Cushman resigns the office of 
Circuit Judge, and A.J. Parker appointed his successor — Mr. Farring- 
ton appointed Troaisurer — J. C. Spencer nominated Associate Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court — His nomination is rejected by the 
Senate — Causes — Silas Wright nominated for same Office — He declines 
— Nomination of Chancellor Walworth for same Office — Afterwards 
the Chancellor's name withdrawn by the President, when Judge Nel- 
son was nominated and appointed P^^ge 369 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Gen. Chamberlain's Resolutions — Mr. Dennison's Report on the Canal 
Policy and Bill — As-seinbiy's Finance Bill amended in the Senate, and 
piisses — The state of feeling in the Assembly and Senate between the 
Hunkers and Radicals — B. F. Hall's Bill for a Convention, and proceed- 
ings thereon — Bill for electing Canal Commissioners — Removal of Mr. 
Cassidy from the office of Stale Librarian — Policy of the Whigs — Cal- 
vin H. Hulburd — Democratic Legislative Caucus — Protest of the minor- 
ity — Whig Legislative Address 403 

CHAPTER XV. 

BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 

The issue on which Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 — Annexation of 
Texas — Mr. Van Buren's Letter to Mr. Hammit — Intrigues at Wash- 
ington — Two-third Rule — Proceedings at the Baltimore Conveution — 
Nomination of James K. Polk — Mr. Wright declines to be a Candidate 
for Vice-President — George M. Dallas is nominated Vice-President — 
Whig Convention — Mr. Clay nominated for President — Mr. Freling- 
huysen for Vice-President — Millard Fillmore supported by the New 
York Delegation — His Character 437 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Public feeling on the announcement of the Presidential Nominations — 
Native American Party — Liberty Party — Anti-Rent Party — Two sec- 
tions of the Whig Party — Cou.servative and Radical — Difficulties in the 
«er<'Clion of a Democratic candidate for Governor — Radical papers de- 
mand till- Nomination of Mr. Wright — His unwilliiignr.'^s to be a 
Candidate — His Letter to the Editor of the St. Lawrence Republican — 
Syracuse Convention — Mr. Wriglit nominated for Governor — Whig 
State Convention — Secret Circular — Mr. Clay's Letters — Their Effijct 
— Action of the Native American Party — Also of the Liberty Party — • 
Result of the Election — Position and Policy of the Governor dec! — Mr. 
Wright resigns his sn.it in Ihr IJiiilfd Stales Senate — Governor Boiick 
appoints Messrs. Dickinson and Foster United Stales Senators in place 
of Governor Wright and N. P. Tallmadge 47(5 



CONTENTS. 11 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Condition of the Democratic Party at the commencement of the year 1845 
— Contest about the nomination of Speaker — Mr. Seymour and Co). 
Grain — Mr. Seymour is nominated and elected — Governor's Message — 
Caucus to nominate State Officers — Its result — Caucus to nominate 
United Slates Senators — Messrs. Dickinson and Dix nominated and 
elected — .Mr. Polk's offer to appoint Mr. Wright Secretary of the Treas- 
tiry — Gov. Marcy appointed Secretary of War Pago 510 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Opinions of the Hunker and Radical Members of the Legislature of 1845 
on the subject of the necessity of a Constitutional Convention — Differ- 
ent viewH of the Hunkers, Radicals, uud Whigs on that subject — ^Char- 
acter of John Young — Amendments to the Constitution proposed by 
the Legislature of 1844, and approved by the Electors at the Novem- 
ber elfclioii of that year — .\ction of the Whig Members of the Legi.i- 
lature on those Amendments — Circumstances which led to the passage 
of a Convention Bdl — Final passage of the Bill in the Assembly — De- 
bate on that occasion — Proceedings in the Senate on the Convention 
Bill — Its final passage in that House — Passage of the Canal B.ll — Is 
vetoed by the Governor — Resignation of Judge Kent, and apporntment 
of Judge Edmonds as Circuit Judge of the First Circuit 535 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Bill to prevent persons appearing disguised and armed — Anti-rent Conven- 
tion at Bern — No Democratic legislative Caucus was held at thn closa 
of the session — Address of the Radical members — Whig legislative Cau- 
cus and Address — Democratic Mass Meeting at Albany — Difffrent opin- 
ions as to the course pursued by Governor Wright — J. A. Speucr and 
Samuel Young elected Senators — General Result of the Election iu 
November, lb45 — Death of General Jackson — Death of Judge Siilher- 
laud — Death of Francis Dwight — His Character 562 

CHAPTER XX. 

Legislature of 1846 — Col. Grain and Mr. Bailey, candidates for nomina- 
tion to the Speakership — Mr Crain nominated and elected Speaker — 
Delos W. Dean, Clerk-*-Anti-Rent Outrages — Trial of the In.surgent* 
in Delaware County — Judge Parker — John Van Buren — Govomor's 
Message — Legislative Proceedings — Debate in the Senate on tlu' Reso- 
lutions proposed by Mr. Jones — Bill on the subject of State Pi inter — 
Proceedings and Debates thereon in the Senate and Assembly — Act 
abolishing Distress for Rent — Mr. A. G. Cliatfield chosen Speaker pro 
tem. — Col. Young elected President pro tem. of the Senate — R. E. 
Temple appointed Adjutant-General — Hiram Gray appointed Judge of 
the Sixth Circuit — L. H. Sanford Vice-Chancellor of the First District — 
Death of Jonas Earl 574 



18 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CONVENTION. 

Place of birth of the Delegates — John Tracy elected President — A Com- 
mittee of sevedteon appointed to report on subjects to be considered by 
the Convention — Tlieir Report — De,b;ite on restricting the eligibility of 
citizens for the office of Governor — On the Executive Veto — On the 
Legislative Department — Report of the Judiciary Committee — Of the 
persons who composed that committee — Proceedings on Mr. Chatfield's 
Report (No. 6) on the State Officers — On Gen. Tallmadge'e Report, 
from No. 11, on Rights and Privileges — Proceedings in Committee of 
the Whole on the Report from the Judiciary Committee — Mr. Hoff- 
man's Report on Canals, the Public Revenue, &c., from No. 3 — Pro- 
ceedings in Committee of the Whole on Mr. Hoffman's Report — Mr. 
Cambreling's Speech on Currency and Banking — Debate on the ques- 
tion of extending to colored freemen an equal Right of Suffrage — Mr. 
Clyde's Resolutions in relation to the Tenure of Real Estate — Final ad- 
journment of the Convention — Concluding Remarks Page 605 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Mexican War — Speech of Mr. John Young on a resolution to sup- 
port the War — Legislative Caucus at the close of the session — Whig 
legislative Caucus and Address — National Reformers — The New Scot- 
land Convention — Democratic State Convention at Syracuse — Address 
of the Convention — Whig State Convention — Anti-rent Convention at 
Albany — John Young elected Governor and Addison Gardiner Lieuten- 
ant-governor — Speculation on the causes of the defeat of Gov. Wright 
— Death and character of General Root — Conclusion of Political His- 
tory 671 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

life of Silas Wright resumed and continued — Manner in which Mr. 
Wright receives the news of his defeat — Letter from George W. Little, 
Esq. — Wilmot Proviso— Mr. P. King's B,ll including the Wilmot Pro- 
viso — His Speech on the Bill — Resolution of the New York Legislature 
on the subject of the Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Wright leaves Albany for 
Canton — His Journey from Utica — Letter from Col. Hinman — Chicago 
Convention — Mr. Wright's Reply to the Committee who invited his at- 
tendance — Mr. Wright's Address at the Saratoga Agricultural Fair — 

His Manner of Life after his return to Canton — His Death 700 

• 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Proceedings on the Death of Mr. Wright, at Albany — New York — Tam- 
many Society — Slate Legislature — Wisconsin — Presentation of Plate 
by the New York Merchants to Mrs. Wright — Funeral Sermon by Mr. 
Johnson — Remarks on the Character of Silas Wright 733 

APPENDIX 745 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction — Birth and Childhood of Silas Wright — Academical and 
Collegiate Education — Remarks on School-keeping by Students of th« 
New England Colleges — He studies Law at Sandy Hill — Is admitted 
an Atfornpy of the Supreme Court — His Journey through Western 
New York — Locates himself in Canton, St. Lawrence County — The 
first Public OfRces which he held — His services in the Militia of St. 
Lawrence County. 

WiiF.^f an indivitlual of obscure birth, without the aid 
of influential relations, without wealth, and witiiout that 
glory which is son)etimes gained by the daring and bril- 
liant achievements of the soldier of fortune, rises to an 
eminent rank in society, and acquires the esteem and ad- 
miration of a great country, the attention of the philoso- 
pher as well as the curiosity of the lover of history, is 
naturally directed to an inquiry into the causes which 
have produced such auspicious results. 

In despotic governments it not unfrequently happens 
that men in the lowest ranks of life are suddenly elevated 
to the highest by the fiat of the sovereign of the country : 
thus a Hebrew slave spends the night in a loathsome 
dungeon, an inmate with the vilest felons, and the next 
morning becomes second only in wealth and power to a 
great monarch ; and in one short hour the slave in Tur- 
key is elevated to the station and authority of prime min- 

2 



14 LITE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

ister of a mighty empire. The cause of events like these 
is found in the partiaHty and freaks of passion of a sin- 
gle individual — the reigning despot. His favorites have 
" greatness cast upon them." Not so with the poor and 
obscure child who is born and grows up to manhood in 
the United States of America. He can only rise to in- 
fluence, he can only acquire power, by gaining the good 
opinion, the esteem and confidence of hundreds of thou- 
sands, who at their option withhold or bestow that es- 
teem and confidence. Hence the means by which he 
gains the preference of his fellow-citizens becomes an in- 
teresting subject of inquiry, not only for the gratification 
of the curiosity of the student of history, but as furnishing 
a demonstration of the value of our free institutions in 
encouraging, fostering, and rewarding merit, talent, and 
virtue, however humble their origin, and as affording to 
our youth the highest inducement to persevering indus- 
try, to the practice of all the public and private virtues, 
to the acquisition of useful knowledge, and of an elevated, 
enlarged, and ardent patriotism. With this view the at- 
tention of the reader is invited to the History of the Life 
of Silas Wright. 

Mr. Wright was born in the town of Amherst, in the 
county of Hampshire, and state of Massachusetts, on the 
24th day of May, in the year 1795. His father's Chris- 
tian name was Silas, and therefore the subject of these 
memoirs was for a long time known in this state* as Si- 
las Wright, Jr. The ancestors of Mr. Wright belonged 
to the Pilgrims of New England, and were among the 
earliest emigrants who fled from England to the bleak 



* Until the death of his futlier, which happened within a few years 
past. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT 15 

and barren shores of Massachusetts, for the sake of en- 
joying civil and religious liberty. They must have emi- 
grated in the first part of the seventeenth century. It 
appears that Mr. Samuel Wright, from whom Mr. Silas 
Wright traced a direct lineal descent, died at Northamp- 
ton, in Massachusetts, of which place he had for some 
time been an inhabitant, in the year 1665. 

The father of Mr. Wright, though for a son of the old 
Pilgrim State he was much restricted in his education 
even as respects the common branches of learning, is de- 
scribed as a man who possessed a clear and discerning 
mind, and an excellent judgment. He was bred a me- 
chanic, but in afterlife purchased a farm, and became 
and continued to be a practical farmer till his death.* 

Mr. Wright's mother was better educated than most 
of the young women in the country where she resided. 
She is described as having possessed more than ordinary 
intellectual power ; and she undoubtedly had a great and 
paramount influence in giving an early direction to the 
infant mind. of Silas, who was soon distinguished as a lad 
of great promise, and seems to have been so regarded by 
both his parents ; for, from a family consisting of seven 
children, four sons and three daughters, he was selected 
as the only one on whom should be bestowed the benefit 
of a collegiate education. 

In Februar}', 1706, when Silas was less than a year 
old, his father removed from Amherst, his native town, to 
Weybridge, in Vermont, where he purchased a farm, and 
where he continued to reside till his death. Thus, al- 
though the distinjiruished individual of whose life we are 

* In Vermont he was several times elected a member of the legislature 
of that state. 



10 i.irn OF SILAS wkigiit. 

now attempting to give a sketch, was not a native of Ver- 
mont, havino; received his education there, and lived there 
from the time he was nine months old until he com- 
menced the study of his profession, he may be regarded 
as a son of the Green Mountain State. 

Mr. Wright, until he was fourteen years old, lived in 
his father's family ; and, in accordance with a custom 
almost universally prevalent in Vermont, as soon as he 
had acquired sufficient age and strength to labor at all, 
worked daily on the farm in summer, and attended the 
district school in the winter. 

At about the agre of fourteen he entered as a student 
in the academy at Middlebury, in Vermont, and was so 
successful in the prosecution of his academical studies, 
that in August, 1811, he was admitted as a member of 
the Freshman Class at Middlebury College, at which in- 
stitution he was graduated in the year 1815. 

In order to aid young men of limited pecuniary means 
in defraying their expenses w^hile at college, it is usual in 
most of the eastern colleges to permit the students to be 
absent during the winter, provided they desire to employ 
that portion of their time in teaching, and provided their 
diligence and success in prosecuting their studies during 
their actual attendance at college, have been such as to 
warrant the expectation that at the end of the collegiate 
year they will be able to pass such an examination as will 
merit the approbation of the faculty of the institution. 
Mr. Wright availed himself of this custom, and taught a 
common district school one winter, at Provost's Corners, 
in Addison county, and two winters at the town of Or- 
ville, in Rutland county, in the state of Vermont. 

We admire this custom, which has long prevailed in 
the colleges in New England. We wish the practice 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 17 

could be introduced into the colleges of this state.* In 
our judgment it is in various ways calculated to be useful. 
It furnishes the indigent student with means, acquired by 
his own labor and industry, to defray the expenses of his 
education, and thus enables him to pursue his studies, and 
preserve his personal independence, and to avoid the deg- 
radation, at least in feeling, of living on the charitable dona- 
tions from ladies' societies, or other benevolent institutions. 
It gives to the district schools competent and able teach- 
ers ; and the exercise of teaching and of governing a school 
furnishes the teacher himself with perhaps the best means 
of obtaining a correct insight into the human character 
from its developments by children and unsophisticated 
youth, while it leaves the young teacher, who is himself 
a learner, sufficient leisure to consider and reflect upon 
the studies he has pursued the preceding summer and 
autumn. 

Some of the most eminent men in New England, 
among whom we may mention the elder Adams, have 
commenced their business life by teaching a common 
school while they were themselves students at college. 
We have no direct information respecting the success of 
Mr. Wright as a teacher, but from the patience, diligence, 
skill, and address with which, in afterlife, he pursued his 
various avocations, we have no doubt he discharged his 
duty as a schoolmaster in a manner useful to his pupils, 
and satisfactory to his employers ; and if so, who shall 
say but that Silas Wright, in this humble employment, 
may not, during the short time he was engaged in it, 
have done as much real good, as when subsequently oc- 

* The author has beeu recently informed that this laudable custom has 
been partially adopted in Union and Hamilton colleges. 

2* 



18 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 

cupying some of the most conspicuous and important 
stations in the country, he justly merited and received 
the plaudits of a great nation ? 

A worthy and much-respected clergyman,* who was 
in college with Mr. Wright, in a letter to the author, 
written since the death of Mr. W., says : — 

" My first acquaintance with him [A\'^right] com- 
menced when we were lads together. At that early 
period his frankness, his unbending regard to truth, and 
his perfectly upright and fair dealing, were not only con- 
spicuous, but were proverbial among his associates. His 
natural temper was mild and attractive. In the acade- 
my, while pursuing studies preparatory to entering col- 
lege, he was an industiious student, and several times 
was the successful competitor for the small prizes prof- 
fered to excite emulation. In college he stood fair as a 
scholar, and high as a young man of correct moral prin- 
ciples and irreproachable habits." 

Mr. Wright was a member of ^Middlebury College du- 
ring those years in which the United States were at war 
with Great Britain. Political disputes, during that period, 
were very rife in the northern and eastern states, and in 
no state were they more bitter than in the state of Ver- 
mont. Party feeling w^as probably the more ardent and 
excited there in consequence of the approach of a British 
army, during the period we have mentioned, near the 
w-estern line of Vermont. Although it is to be regretted 
that political differences, and especially that partisan zeal 
and prejudices should ever be permitted to enter our lit- 
erary institutions, or occupy for a moment the attention 
of students at our universities, it is, nevertheless, not sur- 



* Rev. H. S. Johnson of Canton. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 19 

prising that at tliis time the minds of the ardent and 
spirited young men who were students at Middlebury 
College, should have participated in the excitement which 
prevailed all around them. They did indeed mingle in 
the contest, and attached themselves to one or the other 
of the two great parties, as to them respectively seemed 
right and proper. Mr. Wright took ground in support 
of the war, of Mr. Madison's administration, and the 
Republican party. It is by no means improbable that the 
contest in which he then engaged, with a formidable ma- 
jority of his fellow-students, had a considerable influence 
in fastening on his mind a predilection for that party 
which he believed was the Republican party, and which, 
it appears, had a controlling effect upon his conduct du- 
ring the remainder of his life. 

Immediately after Mr. Wright was graduated at Mid- 
dlebury College, and in the month of October, 1815, he 
came into the state of New York, and commenced the 
study of law in the office of the Hon. Henry C. Martin- 
dale, a gentleman who held a respectable standing as a 
lawyer, and who was afterwards for several successive 
terms elected a member of the House of Representatives 
in the Congress of the United States, for the district in 
which he resided. Mr. Wright pursued his studies in 
the office of Mr. Martindale, at Sandy Hill, in Washing- 
ton county, about a year and a half, when he left the 
office of Mr. Martindale, and completed the study of his 
profession under the direction of Roger Skinner, after- 
wards elected a member of the Senate of this state, and 
subsequently appointed United States Judge of the North- 
ern District of New York. Judge Skinner then, and for 
some time after Mr. Wright was admitted an attorney 
of the Supreme Court, kept an office in the village of 



20 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Sandy Hill.* We are aware that it has been stated that 
Mr. Wriglit read law with Judge Skinner in the city of 
Albany, but this is an error ; Mr. Wright never was in 
Albany, except merely to pass through it, until he came 
there as a member of the State Senate in the year 1824. 
The author takes leave to remark in passing, that before 
Mr. Wright was known to him as a legislator or a pol- 
itician, he has frequently heard Judge Skinner speak 
in terms of high commendation both of his head and 
heart. In the January term of 1819, Mr. Wright was 
admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court. 

After, and indeed before Mr. Wright had obtained his 
Hcense, his health had become so much impaired, proba- 
bly in consequence of confinement in a law-office, and 
the laborious discharge of his duties as a clerk, together 
with a too severe application to his studies, that his friends 
became alarmed on his account, and urged him to under- 
take a journey on horseback through the western parts 
of the state of New York. He followed their advice, 
probably with the less reluctance, as he must, then have 
been anxious to discover the most eligible place in which 
he could commence business with a reasonable prospect 
of success, and because he was desirous personally to see 
and explore the great West, of which he had heard so 
much. To him it was not only a journey in pursuit of 
health, but it was an expedition in search of a place 
which he might select for his future residence. On set- 
ting out upon such a journey, and for such purposes, his 
feelings must have been highly excited. He was desti- 



* While Mr. Wright was reading law under the direction of Judge 
Skinner, in order to preserve his pecuniary independence, ho again devo- 
ted several months to the business of teachiug a school at Fort Miller. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 21 

tute of wealth and influential connections ; but " the 
world was all before him where to choose his place of 
rest, and Providence his ^uide." What must have been 
the hopes and fears which alternately agitated the noble 
mind of the young Vermonter, can by men who in youth 
have undertaken similar enterprises, better be imagined 
than described. # 

After travelling through a considerable part of western 
New York, Mr. Wright in returning directed his course 
northerly, which finally brought him into the county of 
St. Lawrence, the greater part of which was then an un- 
broken wilderness. 

A few houses were at that time erected on the spot 
where the fine and flourishing villasre of Canton now 
stands. Thither Mr. Wright directed his steps. The 
courts in the county of St. Lawrence were then held at 
Ogdensburg, and no doubt the forecast of Wright enabled 
him to perceive that the seat of justice would ere long be 
removed to a more central part of the county. Canton 
was much nearer the geographical centre than Ogdens- 
burg, and his sagacious mind must soon have arrived at the 
conclusion that the county-seat would probably be soon 
removed from the latter to the former village. It is to 
be presumed that some such considerations as we have 
suffKested led him to visit Canton. When he arrived 
there, he was delighted to find located in that place an 
old and much esteemed friend of his father, Capt. Medad 
Moody, who several years before had removed from Wey- 
bridffe in Vermont, to the countv of St. Lawrence. Mr. 
Moody was no less pleased on seeing and welcoming to 
his house the son of his valued neighbor and associate of 
former days. Mr. Wright also found in this village oth- 
ers of the friends and neighbors of his father, whom he 



22 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

had known in the days of his childhood, — perhaps the hap- 
piest portion of human hfe. Tlie recollection of those 
days reminds us of home ; they bring vividly to our view, 
and we again enjoy, sweet home as it was in the days of 
innocence and peace, when the heart, only alive to the 
enjoyment of innocent pleasures, was unacquainted with 
the struggles of ambitious rivalry, jialousy, and envy. 
The love of home is the source and foundation of all the 
emotions of patriotism which spring up in the human 
heart. 

Mr. Moody expressed to Mr. Wright his anxious de- 
sire that he should locate himself permanently in the vil- 
lage of Canton ; and as an inducement to Mr. W. to 
accede to his wishes, he offered to build, and did event- 
ually " build a small office for him," says Mr. Horace 
Moody, the son of Capt. Moody, and a brother to her who 
was afterwards the wife of the lamented Wright, in a 
letter to the author, " with two rooms, one of which he 
occupied for his sleeping apartment, and the other for a 
law-office. He continued," says young Mr. Moody, " to 
occupy the law-office until his duties as comptroller took 
him to Albany." After Mr. Wright made up his mind to 
settle in Canton, he remained a short time in the family 
of Mr. Moody; but in October, 1819, as Mr. Horace 
Moody states, " he returned to Vermont, when his 
brother Samuel, with his own conveyance, brought him 
again to Canton, and he took up his abode in the family 
• of Mr. Moody, which he made his home until he com- 
menced keeping house for himself. Upon leaving his 
father's house, his mother gave him a sufficient quantity 
of bedding for his own use, which was all he brought 
with him, and all the personal property he had in the 
world. At a subsequent visit to his parents," continues 



LIFE IJJ SILAS VVRIG T. 23 

Mr. H. Moody, " his father presented him with a fine young 
horse, which he brought to Canton, and although in after- 
Hfe, there was but Httle of the time that he did not own a 
first-rate yoke oi working oxen, that was the only horse 
he ever had." 

Here in a httle village, surrounded by the extensive 
and dense forests with which the great county of St. Law- 
rence was then covered, in the fall of the year, Silas 
Wright, with the few necessary articles of furniture 
given him by his kind and affectionate mother, an office 
built for him by Capt. Moody, and probably some dozen 
volumes of law-books — a young stranger from Vermont, 
in 1819, commenced his business life. Who, at that 
time, would have dared to predict that in less than 
twenty-five years he woul^ be governor of the Empire 
State, and that the anxious eyes of millions would be 
turned to him as the man most deservina; of the hitrhest 
station to which a human being can be elevated ? Such, 
notwithstanding, is now sober history. 

The first civil office held by Mr. Wright was that of 
Surrogate of the county of St. Lawrence. To this office 
he was appointed in the year 1820. It is worthy of re- 
mark, that this office must have been conferred on Mr. 
Wright in consequence of his merit, at the general request 
of the community in which he resided, and not from par- 
ty considerations, for Mr. Wright was, according to the 
political nomenclature of the day, denominated a Buck- 
tail, and De Witt Clinton was then governor, with a coun- 
cil of appointment who were his warm political friends. 
(See 1 Pol. Hist. 518.) 

In 1821, Feb. 28, Mr. Wright was appointed a justice 
of the peace and commissioner of deeds ; but at this time 
a majority of the council of appointment were bucktails. 



24 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 

and Roger Skinner, the friend and patron of Mr. Wright, 
was its most influential and leading member. In 1824, 
Mr. Wright offered his resignation of these offices, but it 
was not accepted until 1825. 

He was also appointed postmaster at Canton, an office 
which he held till he resigned it in 1827. 

In 1821-2-3, he was elected town clerk, and inspector 
of common schools. 

We will venture the assertion, that the only office (ex- 
cept that of pathmaster) which he ever intimated he was 
desirous to obtain, was that of inspector- of common 
schools. 

There was another branch of the duty of a citizen of a 
republic to which Gov. Wright devoted much of his time 
and attention until the discharge of his official duties 
called him away from the county of St. Lawrence, which 
was service in, and the improvement of, the militia. 

In the year 1822, he raised and organized an indepen- 
dent company of riflemen, of which he w^as elected and 
commissioned captain. He conmianded this company 
until the fall of 1825, (which was while he was a member 
of the senate of this state,) when an independent regiment 
was organized, known as the 7th Rifle Regiment. 

The following memoranda of the offices held by Mr. 
Wright, and his services in the militia, were kindly fur- 
nished us by a young gentleman of Canton, who was a 
native of that town. We copy literally from our corre- 
spondent : 

"At the first election of 'field officers' for the new 
regiment, Mr. Wright was elected Major. He did mili- 
tary duty as major one year. In the fall of 182G, he was 
elected Colonel. He commanded the regiment until the 
fall of 1827, when he was elected and commissioned 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 25 

Biigadier-general of the 49th Brigade and 12th Division 
of the New York Mihtia. He commanded the brifjade 
until the year 1829, when he resigned his commission.* 
Mr. Wright was an excellent disciplinarian, and was uni- 
versally respected by all under his command. 

" During the eight years w^hich Mr. Wright did mili- 
tary duly, ' he was never known to make use of a harsh 
or unkind word' towards any officer or soldier under 
his command. 

" One thing is worthy of remark — that of the old rifle 
company raised and organized by Mr. Wright, not a sin- 
gle member was ever knoxcn to vote against him when he 
was a candidate for an elective office, although many of 
them belonged to the party opposed to him in politics. 

" In his military, as well as in all other public stations 
which he filled, he had a sacred regard for the feelings of 
those with whom he was associated, and would not wil- 
lingly do any act calculated to wound the feelings of even 
the most sensitive. 

" One incident which the writer well remembers, occur- 
red at a general review of the 7th llifle Regiment, in 
1828. By the militia laws of New York at that time, the 
commissioned, non-commissioned officers, and musicians 
of each regiment in the state, 'drilled' three days, and 
the fourth was the general review. The 7lh Rifle Regi- 
ment was a new uniformed regiment, and was quite 
large, numbering in all sixteen companies. The offi- 
cers of each company had a tent pitched on the 
field, and fho line of the regiment was formed in front 



• Ho was about that time appointed Comptroller, and it became neces- 
sary for him fo reside constantly in .-Vlbany. — Editor. 

3 



26 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

of the line of tents. It was in the month of October, and 
the weather quite cold. There was a tremendous dark 
heavy cloud hanging over the field. The order was 
given, ' Prepare for the standing review !' The regi- 
ment was immediately put in order, and as the gen- 
eral and his staff approached the right of the regiment, 
and had uncovered their heads, the wind commenced 
blowing a 'hurricane' and the rain and hail fell in 
torrents. At this moment every company hut one 
in the whole line jled to their tents. But the gene- 
ral and one of his staff, (the brigade inspector,) moved 
slowly down the line with uncovered heads, until they 
arrived in front of the only company left in the 
whole line, — which, by-the-by, was his old Rijle Com- 
pany/ : he reined up his horse, while the rain and hail 
were pelting his naked head, and addressed them thus : — 
' That's right, boys ! That's the kind of soldiers I like. 
I knew I should have one company to review if it rained 
pitchforks, unless they came tines downwards.' 

" The rain ceased, and the line w^as again formed, and 
the general passed over the ground a second time. 

" After the review, the regiment was formed in ' hol- 
low square,' and the general, in his calm, cool manner, 
made a handsome address to the regiment. As he 
commenced, all eyes were turned towards him, and 
every ear was open, expecting to hear something in 
the sha})e of a reprimand for leaving the ranks without 
orders. But they were all happily disappointed, for not 
a harsh word escaped his lips on that occasion. In the 
course of his address he alluded to the unfortunate day, 
and much regretted the damage done to their uniforms. 
He remarked very good-naturedly that he did not think 
they had ' gained much by leaving the ranks, for thev 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 27 

appeared to be about as thoroughly soaked as he was, 
who had not left the line during the storm.' " 

We add a single remark : From the facts above stated, 
it is evident that Mr. Wright was fond of military exer- 
cises, and of military distinction. We were personally 
acquainted with him from the time he was elected to the 
senate in 1823, and while he was comptroller, and of course 
a resident of Albany, where we also resided, and were in 
habits of [>ersonal intercourse with him until he retired to 
Canton in the autumn of 1846 ; and vet we never heard 
or sus|)ected that he had ever held any office in the mili- 
tia. We knew him only as a citizen in civil life. We 
knew him as plain Mr. Wright, and not by the pompous 
title of General Wright. We mention this circum.^tance 
as evidence of the innate and peculiar modesty which in 
all situations governed the conduct and social intercourse 
of Silas Wright during his whole life. 



28 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 



CHAPTER II. 



SILAS WRIGHT AT HOME. 



From the first of January, 1824, to the first of the same 
month in the year 1 847, the greater part of Mr. Wright's 
time was spent either at Albany or Washington, in the 
discharge of the high and responsible duties which de- 
volved upon him as a member of the New York state 
senate, as the comptroller of the state, an office which 
draws within its vortex nearly all the important operations 
of the government, as a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, as senator of the United States, or as govern- 
or of the state. Overwhelmed with official business, and 
immersed in the wild and tempestuous ocean of politics, 
little can be seen or known of his domestic qualities and 
habits during that long period. The short time which 
during some of these years he was enabled to spend at 
home, made him rather a visiter than an inmate in his 
own house. It was only from the autumn of 1819 to 
that of 1823, that Mr. Wright can be said to have lived 
at home. But it is there where you see the man as he is. 
It is there where impatience, envy, irascibility, and all the 
bad passions to which ])oor human nature is subject, are 
too often displayed without restraint ; and it is there where 
the kindly emotions of the heart are exhibited, and where 
they exist unadulterated with any sinister motive. It is 
by the domestic fireside — it is in the social intercourse 
with one's family and neighbors and intimate friends, 



LIFE OF SILA.-? WRIOHT. 29 

where there is no inducement for affectation or disguise, 
that the beams of " the soul's calm sunshine" are most 
conspicuous and most sensibly felt. To see Silas Wright 
as Silas Wright, we must look at him in the family of the 
old neighbor and friend of his father, Capt. Moody, in the 
remote and quiet village of Canton. We therefore insert 
the gleanings we have made from several obliging corre- 
spondents, one of whom is the son of Mr. IMoody, and 
another was the clergyman of the village, whom we have 
before mentioned as the classmate of the subject of these 
memoirs. 

As respects Mr. Wright's professional efforts, a gentle- 
man who was at one time sheriff of St. Lawrence, and 
afterwards a member of the assembly and senate from 
that county,* says : — " His habits were extremely plain, 
simple, and unambitious. He did not seem to seek busi- 
ness for profit or distinction. He was apparently uncon- 
scious of his own powers.^ He had acquired but little 
practice, and not a very extensive acquaintance in the 
county when he was nominated, in 1823, to the sen- 
ate. ***** 

" Of his early efforts at the bar I can say little. 
They were of a modest business character, without ap- 
parently aspiring to distinction ; and yet even then, when 
he spent much of his time in what seemed to be an indo- 
lent manner, he showed that strict attention and punctu- 
ality in what he had to do, which characterized him 
throuo-h life. The smallest call, even with the slightest 



• Hon. D. C. Judson. 

t This we believe to be the peculiar characteristic of great minds. 
What they see is to their mental vision «50 obvious, that they think the 
most common minds cannot avoid perceiving and reasoning as they do. 

3* 



30 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT, 

claims upon him, was never neglected. His physical 
powers, as well as his mental, were always at the service 
of his friends and neighbors, and no man could be more 
beloved among them than he was." 

"During the several years he was a justice of the 
peace," says the Rev. H. S. Johnson, " he discharged the 
duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of all who 
employed him. As a justice and as a lawyer he made 
the most active and successful efforts to suppress and do 
away all unworthy and scurrilous litigation. One speci- 
men of his efforts for this object may be given. He was 
employed as counsel for the defendant in a suit of this 
character. He exhibited the doings of his client in the 
transaction in a true light. Then he took up the charac- 
ter of the plaintiff, and treated it with the same impar- 
tiality. He said the whole transaction between the par- 
ties was unworthy and base in the extreme. Then in a 
very summary manner he pointed out that his client, of 
the two bad men, had been the most injured. The de- 
fendant was successful ; but after the jury had given their 
verdict, he expressed great anger at Mr. Wright, and said 
to him, ' I did not employ you to rake my character, nor 
do I thank you for doing it.' Mr. Wright replied, ' My 
dear sir, your character in this whole transaction has 
been so bad, and is seen and felt by this court and jury to 
be so unworthy, that had I palliated it in the least, you 
would have lost your cause. My abhorrence of such 
conduct is like that of every reflecting man, and I hope 
you will })rofit by the disclosures of this day, so as not 
again to be subjected to a like embarrassment.' 

" The Hon. Benjamin Raymond was for a number of 
years one of the judges of the Common Pleas in this 
county, [St. Lawrence.] He was one of the most 



LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 31 

talented, discerning, and shrewd of men. About the first 
time Mr. Wright attended the circuit in this county. Judge 
Raymond had something of an intricate and ditftcult cause 
on trial. Unexpectedly his counsel failed to attend. In 
this emergency he employed Mr. Wright, who conducted 
the cause with scarcely an hour's time to prepare for it. 
In relating to me the affair afterwards, Judge Raymond 
said, ' I dislike the politics of that young man, but he has 
a most powerful intellect — a far-seeing mind, and he must 
and will rise to the first ranks of distinction.' He did 
rise, so that in two years he was second to no one of the 
able and experienced bar in the country. 

" The first particular in which Mr. Wright excited ad- 
miration as a lawyer, was his happy talent at examining 
witnesses. Soon after he commenced the practice of 
law, it was perceived that in that respect he excelled all 
others. His questions were perfectly adapted to the abil- 
ity of the person he was examining ; nor could any wit- 
ness evade his questions. In a short time he would draw 
out, clearly and fully, all the witness knew about the 
cause. At the same time he became equally noted for 
the clear and convincing manner in which he would lay 
open a difficult cause to a jury. Early it became a com* 
mon remark, that Mr. Wright had more influence with 
the jury than any other lawyer who practised in St. 
Lawrence county." * * * * « in all the offices, 
whether civil or military, which Mr. Wright held, the 
duties of w^hich in an especial manner pertained to his 
own county, he discharged those duties without any ap- 
parent eflfort to please, to the entire satisfaction of all 
concerned, and so as to render himself the object of uni- 
versal and affectionate regard. It has been a common 
remark of those most intimate with him, that he never 



'i2 LIFE OF vSILAS WRIGHT. 

sought promotion, and that he generally accepted it with 
reluctance. 

" While Mr. Wright's manner of intercourse was of 
the most accessible and familiar kind, he was an unyield- 
ing and fearless opposer of every species of intrigue, dis- 
honesty, and unfairness of dealing. In all his political 
movements he was perfectly frank, and always stated his 
object distinctly, clearly, and truly. Perhaps by this 
means he often gained his object, from the fact that his 
declarations were so perfectly unequivocal that his oppo- 
nents did not believe him to be laboring for the object 
which he professed to be pursuing. Although it is well 
known that this same trait characterized his political 
movements when abroad in afterlife, the above remarks 
are made with especial reference to his early political 
career in St. Lawrence county. 

" In his more immediate associations in the neighbor- 
hood and town, he threw around him no reserve, but was 
perfectly accessible and familiar with any and every one, 
whether political friend or political opponent. He took 
an active and lively interest in all objects of public con- 
cern in the town. He was often District Pathmaster, 
and labored with his own hands with as much satisfac- 
tion and efficiency as any farmer in repairing and making 
the road. Difficult, hard, or even muddy work had no 
terrors for him. Among the farmers he was called one 
of the best hands on the road. 

" Mr. Wright's feelings were unusually kind to all his 
acquaintance. Was any one in trouble, he would sym- 
pathize with them, and advise them wisely. The remark 
has often been made, from which no one was ever known 
to dissent, that in all his promotion, Mr. Wright never 
forgot his eurly and most humble fricmds. He had not 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 33 

been in Canton more than a very few years, before there 
was an ahnost universal resort to him for advice in the 
common concerns of men. Scarce any man, political 
friend or enemy, would undertake any thing in his busi- 
ness, a little out of the common course, without consult- 
ing Mr. Wright, and he was ever ready to give such ad- 
vice familiarly and freely. This was the case with the 
most de[)endent day-laborer, and from him through all 
grades up to the most affluent merchant and farmer. It 
has never been heard from an individual that Mr. Wright 
gave him bad advice ; on the other hand, almost every 
one will speak of the benefit he has derived from the ad- 
vice given by Mr. Wright. 

" When Mr. Wright became an inhabitant of Canton, 
there was no settled clergyman in the town. A small 
number were accustomed to assemble on the Sabbath, 
and hold what is called a ' deacon-meeting.' In these 
meetings Mr. Wright took an interest ; he attended them 
constantly. Soon he was invited to read a sermon. This 
he cheerfully did, and continued to read a sermon in the 
absence of the minister, whenever in town on the Sab- 
bath, as long as he lived. Such as attended the Presby- 
terian congregation formed a strong attachment to Mr. 
Wright on this account. When in town they were al- 
ways sure to see him at church on the Sabbath, and in 
case of the minister's absence, they expected to hear him 
read a sermon. 

" The attachment between Mr. Wright and the people 
was lively, ardent, and reciprocal. If any were suffering, 
he would do all he could to relieve them, with either 
money or the labor of his own hands. Often was he 
accustomed to watch at the sick-bed of the languishing : 
whether that bed was among the conveniences of hfe or 



34 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

secluded in the wants of penury, it made no difference to 
him. The charitable and benevolent objects of the day 
were sure to receive a contribution from his hand; by 
such means all classes became attached to him, from the 
oldest to the mere child. When Mr. Wright has been 
expected after an absence, I have often heard little boys 
of eight or ten years old inquire with the deepest interest, 
When will ]Mr. Wris-ht be in town ? This was common 
with the children, as they all expected his notice when 
he came. He overlooked no interest, but felt for all ; 
and this feeling was not affected, but real, and all be- 
lieved it to be such. When he was at Albany, New 
York, or Washington, all the little en'ands that any in 
Canton wished done there, they would send to him ; he 
would cheerfully do them, and derive pleasure from the 
service. Soon after Mr. Wright's last return from Al- 
bany, I called on him, and found him intensely engaged in 
WTiting ; he bid me take a seat, and said he would short- 
ly be at leisure. Immediately two fine children of the 
neighbors, seven or eight years old, came in ; Mr. Wright 
addressed them in his usual affable manner, but did not 
stop his WTiting. These little ones drew their chairs to his 
desk, one on either side of him, and were soon amusing 
themselves by fino-erinff his hair, and continued to do so 
without disturbing him at all, until he had finished his 
writing. 

" In every department, whatever business came into 
his hands was immediately performed, and no deficiency 
or flaw was ever found in any thing which passed through 
his hands. He was one of the most careful, thorough, 
and accurate of men. All the political works and peri- 
odicals of the day were read by him as soon as they came 
to hand. Besides, he read all the recent publications 



/ 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 35 

containing matters of general interest. Few men could 
be more familiar with the present state of the world than 
Mr. Wright. His knowledge was particular and accu- 
rate ; added to this, his correspondence was immense for 
one individual. This is intended with regard to some of 
his last years. Most men would feel that they had 
enough to do to read and answer all his letters ; yet he 
seemed to do it without being diverted from his ordinary 
business. For months in succession he would labor on 
his farm, both early and late, every day, and not omit or 
delay his reading or his correspondence. His intimate 
friends have often expressed the utmost surprise how he 
could accomplish so much. When in the field on his 
farm, he would perform and work as long as the stoutest 
farmers. There was no fiction about his labor ; it was 
real, thorough hard work. He did not, like some would- 
be gentlemen, put on his gloves, go into the field, and 
merely wish the work well. Mr. Wright felt the utmost 
abhorrence of any thing like fiction in equipage, man- 
ners, politics, or the style and mode of living. He was, 
in a pre-eminent sense, a man of reality. All about his 
house and home was plain, simple, and neat. The re- 
mark has often been made by his neighbors, that all the 
carriage lie ever owned was an ox-wasron and a wheel- 
ban'ow ; his wheelbarrow was generally rolled by him- 
self. When he came home last spring from Albany, Mrs. 
Wriffht remarked to a neighbor that she did not know 
what Mr. Wright would do, for his wheelbarrow was 
broken. It seems, however, that he knew what to do, 
for in a short time he either repaired it, or obtained a new 
one, and was actively engaged with it in the garden. 

" A few days before he left home for Washington the 
last time as senator, while finishing a house that he was 



36 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

building in the village, a gentleman from a distance came 
to see Senator Wright. He went into the house, and 
inquired of the workmen for Mr. Wright. One of them 
replied, ' There is Mr. Wright in the yard, working at the 
mortar-bed.' ' But,' said the gentleman, ' I mean the 
Hon. Silas Wright.' — 'Well, that is him.' — 'I mean 
Senator Wright.' — 'Well, that is Senator Wright.' — 
On repairing to the mortar-bed, this gentleman quickly 
discovered that the workman had not imposed upon 
him. 

" Mr. Wright's manners were such as rendered him 
not only acceptable but agreeable to all classes. Stran- 
gers of high refinement have sometimes expected to find 
him a coarse plebeian, but after being with him a short 
time, they have frequently been heard to declare that he 
was a most agreeable and accomplished gentleman. Any 
persons in his company, whether high or low, felt per- 
fectly at ease ; they thought little about being in the 
presence of greatness, but felt that they were with one 
whose company was pleasing. His discerning political 
opponents have often remarked, that Mr. Wright knew 
better than any other man, how always to talk on the 
subject which would be the most deeply interesting to 
any one and every one who might meet him." 

" At the time he [Mr. Wright] commenced house- 
keeping," says Mr. Horace Moody, " he moved his furni- 
ture upon a wheelbarrow with his own hands, and al- 
though he almost always owned a lumber or ox-wagon, 
the wheelbarrow was the only pleasure carriage he ever 
possessed ; and his first business, after his annual return 
from Washington, while he was senator, was to take his 
wheelbarrow, and go to the village mill, and purchase his 
flour and meal. His pork was on hand, as that was fat- 



I.IKE OF .-ILAS WRIGHT. 37 

lened by himself, and packed up in the cellar previous to 
his leaving for Washington in the fall." 

In addition to what we have quoted from IMr. John- 
son, of the evidence afforded by Mr. Wright of his dis- 
position to support the religious institutions in the neigh- 
borhood of (Canton, we can state, on the authority of Mr. 
Moody, that Mr. W. and another gentleman whose name 
Mr. Moody has (accidentally) neglected to mention, hav- 
ing purchased a lot of land on the south side of the vil- 
lage of Canton, gratuitously conveyed four acres of it to 
the Presbyterian society, upon one acre of which they 
directed a church and parsonage-house to be erected, and 
the remaining three acres to remain a public square. 

Mr. Moody has had the kindness to furnish us with 
many other anecdotes relating to the habits of Mr. Wright, 
and his avocations and employment w^hile at home, — all 
tending to prove the benevolence of his nature, and the 
deep interest he took in the prosperity of the village, and 
the welfare of its inhabitants, — a few of which we cannot 
deny ourselves the pleasure of presenting to the reader. 

" After," says Mr. Moody, " the legislature had passed 
a law directing the count v buildino;s to be located in a 
more central part of the county, and the commissioners 
had located them at Canton, the inhabitants of other sec- 
tions of the county boasted that Canton had no materials 
for the buildings, and that before they could procure them 
the legislature would assemble and change the law direct- 
ing a central location. Having ascertained how the 
matter stood in regard to materials, &c., Mr. Wright 
called a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, and 
after having stated the case, he made an urgent appeal 
to them to make an effort to help the matter forward, and 
closed his remarks by saying, ' I will go to the Stone 

4 



38 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGH't. 

Ledge to-morrow morning with a spade, shovel, crowbar, 
and pickaxe, and will work there until there is not a doubt 
left as to the ability of Canton to furnish the materials 
necessary for these buildings : who will go with me ?' The 
meeting unanimously responded, ' We will all go.' The 
next morning he led the way to the ledge, followed by 
his neighbors, and was the first man to break ground in 
clearing the earth away from the quarry. On the first day 
there was quarried and delivered upon the site selected 
for the buildings, six miles distant from the ledge, in the 
village of Canton, twenty wagon loads of stone, on the 
second day eighty loads, and on the third day one hun- 
dred and twenty loads. Other materials were procured 
with like dispatch, and very soon those who had doubted 
the ability of the inhabitants of Canton to furnish them, 
admitted that they had nothing to hope from that quarter. 

" Mr. Wright labored in that quarry, and assisted in 
loading the teams for twenty-one successive days ; and 
when the building commissioner called upon him for an 
account of his work, he declined receiving any pay for 
his services. 

" In his law business he never charged or would re- 
ceive pay for advice, and has discouraged hundreds of 
men who wanted to commence suits against their neish- 
bors for some petty trespass, by advising them to settle 
the matter in dispute, and not disturb the neighborhood 
with a trifling quarrel ; and while he was a magistrate 
his court was emphatically a court of ' conciliation.' 

" At the time of leaving for Washington, after his first 
election to Congress, he made a thorough examinntion of 
all his notes and accounts, and found about 8600 in small 
amounts against the different individuals for whom he 
had done business. He said to a friend who was present 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 39 

at the time, ' Here are notes and accounts against differ- 
ent individuals varying from -SI to $5, to the amount of 
•$000. Now, these men have done more for me than I 
have for them, and they must be reUeved from these Uttle 
debts,' and without waiting for his friend to make any 
suggestion as to what was the best mode of relief for 
them, he opened the stove door and reduced the package 
to ashes. 

" He was very kind and attentive to the sick, frequently 
walking miles from the village to watch by their bed- 
sides ; and there is scarcely an old resident now living in 
this town, but will relate, with tears in his eyes, instances 
of his kindness to them in their sick hours." 

We shall give one other anecdote of Mr. Wright, not 
because there is any thing very remarkable in the story, 
but because we think the course pursued by him towards 
his associates forcibly illustrates the principles by which 
he was afterwards governed in his treatment of his polit- 
ical friends, who were laboring with him and in the same 
cause. 

Mr. Wright's favorite amusements were hunting and 
fishing, and he rarely returned from those expeditions, 
which sometimes lasted several days, without a goodly 
number of trophies. He was capable of enduring much 
hardship, deprivation, and fatigue while in the woods. 
Upon one occasion, while making a trip to the " South 
woods," as they are called, — an extensive wilderness in 
the south part of the county of St. Lawrence, he, in 
company with several other hunters, was out about ten 
days ; and as each one was obliged to carry a large pack, 
he would make an examination every morning of each 
man's pack, and arrange them so that his own w'ould be 
the largest 'and the heaviest. Many persons now living 



40 I.IFE OF SILAS WKK.'nr. 

can testify that in his subsequent pohtical and legislative 
labors, in the division of that labor between him and his 
associates, he always took the most onerous burden on 
himself. His pack was always largest and heaviest. 

We are aware that to some readers many of the anec- 
dotes Ave have related may appear trifling and frivolous ; 
but in our judgment the true character of an individual 
is best developed by his conduct in the ordinary concerns 
of life. The actions then performed, and the words spo- 
ken, are unpremeditated — the result of the natural im- 
pulses and emotions of the heart. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 41 



CHAPTER III. 

Commencement of Mr. Wright's Political Life — His Nomination and 
Election to the Senate of New York from the Fourth Senatorial Dis- 
trict — His action ou the Bill providing for the Election of Presidential 
Electors by the People — His attachrneut to the Democratic Party — 
H. Seymour's Opinion of Mr. Wright — Governor Yates and Colonel 
Young — I\Ir. Wright supports the reuomination of Mr. Yates for Gov- 
enior — Do Witt Clinton's Removal from the Office of Canal Commis- 
sioner — Attempt to elect a Senator of the United States — Electoral 
Law of 1825— Its Repeal in 1828— Reflections thereon— Numerous 
Applications for Bank Charters in the year 1826— Mr. Wriglifs Action 
upon tho.se Applications. 

Having in the preceding chapter endeavored to ac- 
quaint the reader with the domestic habits of Governor 
Wright, and in doing so alluded to several incidents 
which occurred after he entered into public life, and in 
advance of our narrative ; we now resume it in the au- 
tumn of the year 1823, when he was nominated and 
elected to the senate of this state, and when his political 
life may be said to have commenced. 

He had not at that time, as we are informed by an in- 
telligent correspondent from St. Lawrence county, par- 
ticipated much in the party contests of the county. He 
was therefore little known, even in his own county, as a 
{x>litician. It was, however, generally understood that he 
was moderately opposed to Mr. Clinton, and therefore he 
was considered as belonging to the Bucktail party. 

At the general election in April, 1821, we think a ma- 
jority of the people of the county of St. Lawrence were 

4* 



4-i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Clintonian. At any rate, David C. Judson of that coun^ 
ty, who was a decided Clintonian, was elected a sena* 
tor from the eastern district. After the adoption by 
the people, in the winter of 1822, of the constitution of 
1821, a large majority of Mr. Clinton's republican friends 
in the legislature, of whom Mr. Judson was one, enter- 
tained the opinion that it was for the public good, as well 
as in accordance with their own interest, to abandon the 
contest with the Bucktails, and to make an effort to re- 
unite the old republican party. But to effect this object, 
it was necessary that Mr. Clinton should withdraw him- 
self from the contest ; and accordingly during the session 
of 1822, a meeting was held in Albany, consisting of the 
Clintonian members of the legislature, and some of the 
most respectable citizens of Albany, which appointed a 
committee to call upon Mr. Clinton to inquire of him 
whether he would consent to be a candidate for re-elec- 
tion. As was anticipated, he declined.* 

In 1823, the candidates for the senate were selected in 
the following manner : — The members from the district 
from which the senator was to be chosen met in caucus, 
and designated the county which should have the right 
of nominating a senator. After which a convention was 
held, in the county thus designated, and the senatorial 
candidate was then nominated. 

At the convention held in the fall of 1823, in the coun- 
ty of St. Lawrence, the delegates were composed of re- 
publican Clintonians as well as Bucktails ; and as an 
evidence of union between these two classes of men, 
Judge Bailey, a leading Bucktail, was chosen for one of 
the secretaries, and Mr. Judson for the other. A consid- 

* See 1 Political History, pp. 97-8. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 43 

erable part of the convention, consisting, as we suppose, 
mostly of the Clintonian portion of it, were for nomina- 
ting ]\Ir. Judson ; but he declined, probably partly with 
a view of effectually putting an end to all jealousy be- 
tween the two sections of the democratic party, and 
proposed Mr. Wright, who, as we have before observed, 
was known as a Bucktail, but whose candor and liberali- 
ty rendered him more acceptable to the Clintonians than 
any other gentleman belonging to the Bucktail party. 
The members of the convention belonging to the Buck- 
tail party readily concurred in the proposal to select Mr. 
Wright as the senatorial candidate of the county, and he 
was accordingly unanimously nominated. All this was 
done without any interference on the part of IMr. 
Wright. 

Mr. Monroe was then President of the United States, 
but his second term was to expire on the 4th of March, 
1825, and of course a successor was to be chosen in 1824. 
Already five candidates had been announced for the suc- 
cession, Wm. H. Crawford, .Tohn Quincy Adams, Andrew 
Jackson, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, who withdrew 
his name during the canvass, and each had his partisans and 
supporters in the state of New York, as well as in other 
states of the Union. A majority of the strong and influ- 
ential members of the democratic party in this state, at 
the head of whom stood Martin Van Buren and General 
Root, (then lieutenant-governor,) were for Mr. Crawford, 
and claimed him as the democratic candidate in the na- 
tion. Mr. Wright, as we have reason to believe,* when 



* Jndore Skinner, after Mr. Wright was elected, told the author that 
Mr. Wright was iuchned to support Mr. Adams. His words were — " He 
tcos rather in favor of Mr. Adams." 



44 LIFE 01'' SILAS WRIGHT. 

these candidates were first announced, in common with 
his democratic friends in Vermont, felt a preference for 
Mr. Adams. 

The reader is reminded that from the time of the 
adoption of the federal constitution in 1789, down to and 
after the period about which we are writing, by a law of 
this state, the electors of president and vice-president 
were chosen by the legislature in the same manner as 
senators of the United States are now chosen — the 
choice of those electors would, therefore, according to the 
then existing law, devolve on the legislature, to be chosen 
at the November election in 1823. 

It was believed that Mr. Crawford, from the standing, 
influence, and energy oi" his supporters, would be most 
likely to obtain the electors of the state of New York, if 
they should be chosen by the legislature ; and hence the 
friends of the other candidates naturally concluded, that 
unless the law could be changed so that the people should 
elect the electors, Mr. C. would receive the vote of this 
state. 

Measures were therefore taken in most of the counties 
and districts, to ascertain the opinions of the candidates 
in relation to a change of the mode of choosing electors, 
in such manner as, in the language of the day, would " re- 
store to the people'" the power of choosing them. 

The proceedings of the several parties in respect to 
this question, and the way in which it originated pre- 
vious to the election, are related in the second volume 
of this work, (pages 130-132,) and therefore need not be 
repeated here. 

It is suflicient to remark, that Mr. Wright, whenever 
and wherever this question was agitated, frankly declared 
his opinion in favor of the election of electors by the peo- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 45 

pie by general ticket. In the volume just referred to, at 
page 153, we intimate, although we do not expressly 
affirm, that Mr. Wright pledged him.self previous to his 
election, that " he would, if elected, support a bill giving 
to the people the right to choose presidential electors." 
In this we were mistaken. It is true that such was the 
current report in Albany, where the author then resided, 
both before and after the election, and it was not, to his 
recollection or knowledge, then contradicted, which un- 
doubtedly produced the impression on his mind under 
which he wrote. We have now before us indubitable 
evidence that no pledge was given or required indepen- 
dent of Mr. Wright's frank and unreserved declarations 
to those with whom he happened to converse on that 
subject. Besides private letters now in our possession 
from gentlemen of unquestionable veracity in St. Law- 
rence county, we have seen extracts from the St. Law- 
rence Republican, then a neutral paper, and a slip from 
the Plattsburg Republican, dated October 23, 1823, from 
which it is evident that no pledge was ever given or de- 
manded of Mr. Wright. 

The candidate supported in opposition to Mr. Wright 
was Allen R. Moore, we believe of Washington county.* 
The election was warmly contested. In some counties 
Mr. Moore's majority was large, but the county of St. 
Lawrence saved Mr. Wright. The result of the canvass 
in that county was as follows : 

Silas Wright, Jr., 1,419 ; Allen R. Moore, 20. In the 



* It has been erroneously stated, that " General Mooers of Jefferson 
county," was the opposing candidate. The writer probably intended Gen- 
eral Mooers of Plattsburg, as Jefferson county was not then in the Fourth 
District. 



4(5 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 

town of Canton 200 votes were given, of which Mr, 
Wright received 199 ! and one vote was cast undoubted- 
ly by jMr. Wright himseh', for Jason Fenton. 

How decisively does this vote prove the personal 
popularity of Mr. Wright in his own county ! Nothing 
but the most spotless purity of character could have com- 
manded such a vote. The vote in Canton also proves 
the extraordinary fact — a fact the more extraordinary be- 
cause he w^as a practising lawyer — that he had not a sin- 
gle personal enemy among all the voters of that towai ! 

The legislature commenced the memorable session of 
1824, on the first day of January of that year. The pas- 
sage of an electoral law, as it was called, was the great 
measure which agitated the public mind, and forthwith 
engrossed the attention of the legislature. Immediately 
after the two houses were organized, and before a mes- 
sage had been sent to the governor informing him of that 
fact, Mr. Henry Whealon, " a people's man," as the par- 
ty in favor of an electC' d law was called, from the city 
of NeW' York, and lately American Minister to Sweden 
and Prussia, gave notice that he would on some future 
day bring in a bill authorizing the people to choose the 
electors for president and vice-president. This called up 
Mr. Flagg, then a member from Clinton county, who w' as 
a supporter of Mr. Crawford, and who offered a resolu- 
tion, that the subject of changing the mode of choosing 
the electors be referred to a committee of nine members. 
A long and exciting debate ensued. But as we have 
heretofore given, as we believe, a pretty full history of 
the proceedings in the assembly in relation to this ques- 
tion,* we shall here merely state that after many days, 



* See 2 Political History, pp. 140—148. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 47 

and long and sometimes embittered discussion, the assem- 
bly finally passed a bill providing for a choice of electors 
by the people, if any set of candidates obtained a majori- 
ty of all the votes cast ; but in case no candidate had 
such majority, then no election was effected ; and no pro- 
vision was made for a second election in any form. An 
effort was made to amend the bill, so that the persons 
having a plurality of votes should be declared duly elect- 
ed, but the amendment was rejected by a vote of sixty- 
four to fifty- two. 

When the bill came into the senate, it was referred to 
a select committee, of which jNIr. Charles E. Dudley was 
chairman. The committee, after several days, made a 
long and able report, concluding wdth a resolution, that 
it was inexpedient to legislate at all on the subject during 
that session. 

When this report was under consideration in the sen- 
ate, Mr. John Cramer moved to strike out the conclu- 
ding part of it, and insert the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That it is expedient to pass a law at the 
present session of the legislature, giving to the people of 
this state the choice of electors of president and vice- 
president by general ticket.'* 

In support of this resolution Mr. Cramer made an able 
and eloquent speech, which we had the pleasure of hear- 
ing. It is to be regi'etted that he did not write out his 
speech, and give it to the public. It would have been a 
monument honorable to his talents as a legislator, and to 
his patriotism as a citizen. It was proposed to amend 
the resolution by adding the words " and hy a j)lurality 
of votes;' which was rejected by a vote of seventeen to 
fourteen. Mr. Wright voted against this amendment. 

The question was then taken on Mr. Cramer's original 



48 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

resolution, and it was adopted, sixteen to fifteen, Mr. 
Wright voting /or the resolution. 

Mr. Wright then proposed the following amendment to 
the report of the select committee : 

" Strike out all after the word ' assembly,' in the sec- 
ond line of the last clause of the printed report, and insert 
the following : — But they recommend the passage of a 
law, providing for a choice by the people, by general tick- 
et, of a number of electors of president and vice-president 
of the United States, equal to the number of representa- 
tives in the congress of the United States, to which this 
state shall be entitled at the time any election of electors 
shall be held, locating the electors so to be chosen in the 
several congressional districts, in such manner that each 
congressional district shall have residing within it a num- 
ber of the said electors equal to the number of members 
of congress to which such district shall be entitled at the 
time of the election ; requiring a majority of all the votes 
given in the state, for such electors, to constitute a 
choice ; and directing a meeting of the legislature, at 
such time as shall be requisite, in any year when electors 
of president and vice-president are to be chosen, to ap- 
point two electors, in the manner now prescribed by law, 
corresponding to the two senators from this state in the 
congress of the United States, and to fill any vacancies 
that may exist in any of the congressional districts, from 
a failure to elect by a majority of votes, as aforesaid ; and 
further recommend a repeal of the present existing law, 
providing for the appointment of the said electors, so far 
as the same may be inconsistent with a law containing the 
aforesaid provisions." 

It will be perceived that the project of Mr. Wright was 
substantially the same as that embraced in the bill from 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 49 

the assembly, with the addition of providing for an elec- 
tion of electors by the legislature in case no election 
should be made by the peo})le. So far it was an improve- 
ment of the assembly's bill. J\Ir. Wright supported his 
amendment by an ingenious speech. But what ingenui- 
ty could make that appear even plausible, which on its 
face was absurd ? He had voted for Mr. Cramer's reso- 
lution, that the choice of presidential electors ought, at 
that session of the legislature, to be given to the people. 
Would Mr. Wright's plan have given the choice of the 
electors to the people ? With three or four tickets be- 
fore the people, as it was known there would be, it was 
certain it would not. The friends of Mr. Clay and Mr. 
Adams, as afterwards ap})eared, would neither of them 
yield to the other. The adoption of the majority princi- 
ple, therefore, would necessarily and inevitably carry back 
the election to the legislature, which was tantamount to 
passing no law at all. Entertaining these views of the 
subject, and with these impressions in our former work, 
we strongly intimated our opinion that Mr. Wright's con- 
duct in this affair was disingenuous. Although when Mr. 
Wright first made his appearance in the senate, or rather 
soon after, we, in common with all other observers, were 
convinced that he was a man of a high order of intel- 
lect, and of an amiable temper and disposition, we con- 
fess we did suspect that he was a man of great art and 
consummate address, that his political schemes were pro- 
found, and that he sometimes acted from motives which 
he did not publicly avow. 

These impressions were strengthened when we reflect- 
ed on his course in the choice of a senator of the United 
States, in relation to Judge Spencer, in 1825, and when 
we compared some of his speeches and votes on the tariff, 

5 



50 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

after he became a member of the Congress of the United 
States. We have on various occasions, besides the one 
referred to, expressed the same impressions, verbally and 
probably in our written correspondence. It now atfords 
us sincere pleasure to say, that we are convinced we had 
formed an erroneous opinion of him, and that instead of 
being addicted to plot and contrivance, he was frank and 
sincere ; and although we earnestly wish that on the sub- 
ject of the electoral law, and in the attempt to choose, or 
rather the effort to avoid choosing a senator of the Uni- 
ted States, his conduct had been different, we are entirely 
satisfied his motives were pure and honorable. Our 
reasons for arriving at this conclusion are these : — Mr. 
Wright honestly and sincerely believed, whether erro- 
neously or rightly is not now a subject of inquiry, that 
the ascendency of the democratic party in this state and 
nation would best secure the liberties and promote the 
prosperity of the people. Hence he regarded as a dere- 
Hction of duty any consent to support men or measures, 
the consequence of which he had reason to apprehend 
would produce the overthrow, or even cause a diminu- 
tion of the strength of that party. 

Mr. Wright also entertained the opinion that any state 
of things which should place Mr. Clinton in such a con- 
dition as would give him a controlling influence in the 
government of the state or nation, would eventuate in 
the prostration of the democratic party in either govern- 
ment. We beg our readers to bear in mind that we by 
no means vouch for the correctness of this opinion ; all 
we mean to say is, that Mr. Wright and many other in- 
telligent men honestly believed it to be correct. Again, 
it was believed by Mr. Wright and his political friends, 
and by many of the supporters of Messrs. Adams and 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 51 

Clay, that as soon as a law should be passed giving the 
election of presidential electors by general ticket to the 
people, by a plurality of votes, Mr. Clinton would in- 
stantly be brought forward as a candidate, and they 
thought, and we believe correctly thought, that in the 
distracted state in which the Bucktail party then was, a 
plurality of votes would in that event be given for Clin- 
tonian electors. These conjectures may have been well 
founded, as it is possible might have been proved by 
events, but in justice to many of the most efficient friends 
of Gov. Clinton, w^e feel bound to state that no such views 
were entertained by them to our knowledge or belief; not 
because they did not entertain full confidence in the tal- 
ents and patriotism of Mr. Clinton, but because they be- 
lieved even if the vote of this state could be obtained, 
the attempt to elect him president would be a vain and 
hopeless effort. This, however, made no difference with 
Mr. Wright and his friends ; they believed, and the event 
might have justified their belief, that if the friends of IMr. 
Clinton discovered that there was a reasonable probabil- 
ity of giving him the vote of this state, they would make 
the effort ; and if that effort should be successful, Mr. Van 
Buren, at any rate, knew that the consequence would be 
that Mr. Crawford would be prevented from being a can- 
didate in the United States House of Representatives, on 
which by this time it was known the election of president 
would devolve. Under these circumstances, Mr. Wright, 
entertaining the views and principles which we have as- 
cribed to him, could not consistently vote for a bill which 
would give the election of electors to the people by a plu- 
rality of votes ; and yet at this time, as well as formerly, 
when among his neighbors and friends at Canton, when 
he was a candidate for the office of senator, he was de- 



52 LIFE OF SILAri WRIGHT. 

sirous to evince liis preierence of a choice of electors by 
the people, and the amendments he offered he considered 
in accordance with such desire. Although the scheme bv 
which he proposed to carry into effect his wishes seemed to 
us at the time, and now seems, quite impracticable, we will 
not and cannot believe his amendment was offered in bad 
faith. Most of these views we confess have occurred to 
us since the pubHcation of our Political History in 1842; 
but we have since been favored by Judge Fine, a distin- 
guished member of the senate from St. Lawrence, who 
was an intimate and confidential friend of Gov. Wrisht, 
with the perusal of several letters written by him to 
Judge Fine, about the time of the Baltimore Convention 
in 1844, while he was governor of this state, and after 
his defeat in the year 1846, in the most sacred confidence. 
These letters afford internal evidence that the sentiments 
they contain were directly from the heart, and evince such 
an entire devotedness to the cause in which he was engaged, 
so total an absence 6f all selfish considerations, and such 
perfect disinterestedness, and at the same time so much 
frankness, candor, and liberality, even towards political 
opponents, that we cannot for one moment believe that, 
on the occasion to which we have alluded, he was influ- 
enced by any other motive than a desire to sustain and 
promote the great and paramount interests of the state 
and nation. His error as a public man, if it be an error, 
in our judgment, arose from his uniform devotion to the 
great interests of the party to which he belonged, on whose 
ascendency, we have before stated, he sincerely believed 
depended the prosperity of his country. In relation to 
him, we believe what was said to us by one who knew 
him well, and who knows men well, — a gentleman who at 
this moment is one of the most prominent leaders of the 



LIFE OF SILAS WRICIHT. 53 

party called the Hunker party in this state, and who has 
for that reason been unjustly accused of personal hostiU- 
ty to the late Gov. Wright : we may as well say, we 
mean Horatio Seymour, of Utica. Mr. Seymour said, 
" Mr. Wright was a great man, an honest man : if he 
committed errors, they were induced by his devotion to 
his party. He was not selfish : to him his party was 
every thing — himself nothing." In this opinion we 
most cordially concur. Having said thus much, we shall 
continue to speak of him as we have heretofore spoken, 
with perfect freedom, and without the most distant de- 
sire to conceal or palliate his errors, if he committed any, 
(and who does not err ?) satisfied as we are, and as we 
believe our readers will be, that such errors never origi- 
nated from bad motives. 

The amendment offered by Mr. Wright was rejected, 
only two members of the Senate voting in its favor. 

After Mr. Wright's amendment was disposed of, Mr. 
Livingston, from Columbia county, moved the postpone- 
ment of the further consideration of the report and bill 
till the first Monday in November. This motion was equiv- 
alent to a motion to reject the bill from the assembly. 
The speech of Mr. Livingston, in support of his motion, 
gave great offence to the public. He said, among other 
things, that he had no evidence that the sober part of the 
community desired the passage of an electoral law, and 
that the " clamor in favor of it emanated from bar-rooms." 
The November election proved his error. Instead of the 
sound of the orgies of a bar-room, a voice issued from the 
ballot-boxes which, for a time at least, announced the doom 
of those who refused to the people the right which they 
demanded. 

Mr. Livingston's motion was adopted by a vote of sev- 

5* 



54 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

enteen to fourteen — Mr. Wright voted with the majority. 
It is due to him to give to the reader his reasons lor that 
vote in his own words : 

" Mr. Wright said he had the honor of offering a prop- 
osition giving to the people the choice of electors by 
general ticket, and by a majority of votes, which he had 
supposed the only safe system to be adopted. He had, 
however, been unfortunate enough not to be able to in- 
duce but three members of the senate to think with him, 
after all the reasons he could offer in favor of the propo- 
sition. A proposition had then been made to make the 
choice by districts, which, after being fully and ably dis- 
cussed, had received but two votes ; and now, said Mr. 
W., w-e have rejected the proposition to choose by gen- 
eral ticket and plurality of votes. Divisions have been 
taken upon all these propositions, and the name of every 
member of the house stands recorded upon our journals, 
with his vote upon each proposition distinctly given. 
These, Mr. W. said, were all the propositions he had 
heard suggested, nor had he ingenuitv enouo-h to sus-oest 
or devise a fourth. He therefore despaired of even a 
hope that the senate could agree upon a law, as he did 
not believe that members trifled with their votes upon this 
important subject, or were prepared to change their names 
as they already stood upon the journals. These being 
his views, Mr. W. said he should vote for the postpone- 
ment, unless he could hear some reasons to convince him 
that his conclusions were not coiTect. The resolution 
(Mr. Cramer's) just taken could not be made effective, 
as both the majority and plurality systems, by one of 
which alone it could be made so, had been deliberately 
rejected, and he saw no good reason for spending more 
time on the subject." 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 55 

Gov. Yates, in liis message at the commencement of 
the session, had taken ground against any change of the 
mode of choosing presidential electors difring the session. 
Alter the rejection of the bill from the assembly on that 
subject, the public indignation was not only great against 
the .SEVENTEEN, by whose votes it was rejected, but it ex- 
tended to the governor, who was regarded as in some 
measure the cause of its rejection. When Mr. Yates, in 
1822, was nominated as the democratic gubernatorial can- 
didate, a considerable portion of the democratic party 
would have preferred Col. Young ; and the present popu- 
lar excitement against ]Mr. Yates, principally in conse- 
quence of the sentiments he had expressed against the 
passage of an electoral law, furnished good ground for 
the friends of Col. Younif to urn;e his nomination for the 
office of governor, when the present term should expire, 
in preference to that of Gov. Yates. Col. Young had 
declared himself in favor of passing such a law as was 
advocated by his friend, Mr. Cramer ; and therefore all 
the Adams and Clay men in the legislature (and there 
was but one democratic member. Col. Wheeler, of Steu- 
ben, who was openly in favor of Gen. Jackson) were for 
Col. Younff, as also a considerable number of the friends 
of jNIr. Crawford, who had opposed the electoral law, 
because they believed the probability of electing Col. 
Young was much greater than that of succeeding w'ith 
Gov. Yates. These views were freely expressed in a 
caucus of the members of the legislature, held for the 
purpose of nominating a governor, but Mr. Wright pro- 
tested against abandoning a political friend because he 
had become unpojmlar in consequence of supporting the 
measures of his party ; and in this he was joined by Mr. 
Flagg and some others. These gentlemen declared that 



56 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

if Mr. Yates was to be prostrated for recommending a 
measure in accordance with the views and at the request 
of his political friends, they were ready and willing to 
sink with him. Whatever opinion we may entertain of 
the propriety of the recommendation of Gov. Yates on 
the subject of the electoral law, we cannot but regard 
the course taken by Mr. Wright on this occasion as evi- 
dence of correct and honorable feehng. A large major- 
ity of the convention was, however, for Mr. Young, and 
he was declared the regular nominee. 

Notwithstanding Col. Young, who had heretofore been 
the lavorite of those democrats who supported the elec- 
toral law, had been selected as the democratic guberna- 
torial candidate, many of the leading men of the people's 
party, both in and out of the legislature, — among the 
former were Gen. Tallmadge and Mr. Wheaton of the 
assembly, and Messrs. Ogden, Burrows, and Burt of the 
senate, — refused to support him, because they, probably 
without cause, believed that if elected he would be influ- 
enced in the administration of the government by the 
Crawford party, or as the leaders of that party were then 
called, the " Albany regency."* With a view to destroy 
the influence of these men among their old political 
friends, the Crawford party charged on the people's party 
a disposition to coalesce with the Clintonians ; and, with 
a view of identifying the people's party with the Clinto- 
nians, and when that should be done, of recovering, in 
consequence, many fugitives and deserters from their own 
ranks, or of creating an irreparable breach between the 
Clintonians and people's party, they adopted a singular, 
but daring and bold project. This was the removal of 

* 2 Political History, 157. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 57 

De Witt Clinton from the office of canal commissioner, a 
station which he had held with distinguished usefulness 
to the state ever since the organization of the board of 
commissioners. His gi-eat and efficient services in de- 
vising and executing that magnificent work which uni- 
ted the great w'estern lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, were 
then as now known and acknowledged in the state and 
nation, and indeed in Europe as well as America. No 
charge of nonfeasance or malfeasance was ever pretended 
to exist against him. The sole object must have been 
to compel Gen. Tallmadge, and others of the people's 
party in the legislature, to vote on the question. If they 
voted for the removal, then it was believed the Clinto- 
nians, who, though in the minority, were yet a powerful 
party, would denounce them, and refuse to vote at the 
polls for any of their candidates ; if they should vote against 
it, an inference was to be made and pressed upon the peo- 
ple, that they were secretly combined with the Clintonian 
party. Mr. Bowman, a western senator living on the line 
of the grand canal, was selected, and favored with the 
opportunity of immortalizing him^lf as the file-leader in 
the execution of this disgraceful scheme. On the last day 
of the session, and within an hour of the final adjourn- 
ment, Mr. Bowman offered a resolution for the removal 
of De Witt Clinton from the office of canal commis- 
sioner. The question on the resolution was immediately 
taken without debate, and earned, only three members 
voting against it. Mr. Cramer, although he probably felt 
more interest in the success of Col. Young than any other 
senator, much to his honor, was one of the three. The 
resolution was forthwith sent to the assembly, who con- 
curred by a vote of sixty-four to thirty-four. Gen. Tall- 
madge and Mr. Wheaton voting for concun'ing. What 



58 LIFE OF SILAS WllIGHT. 

effect this movement had upon the two parties, and upon 
the future pohtical fortunes of Mr. CUnton himself, as 
well as its fatal effect upon Gen. Tallmadge, we have 
related in the second volume of the work to which we 
have so frequently referred. 

We lament to see the name of Silas Wright among 
those who voted for this resolution. It was wrong, and 
we have no doubt he soon felt and deeply regretted his 
error. Like all party measures which are wrong in them- 
selves, but devised and adopted for the purpose of ob- 
taining a supposed temporary advantage over political 
opponents, this measure resulted in great injury to its au- 
thors. The removal of De Witt Clinton, and the refusal 
to pass an electoral law, produced, within a few short 
months, and at the very next election, the utter over- 
throw of the party then in the ascendency. Mr. Clinton 
was elected governor by an unprecedented majority, and 
in the popular branch of the legislature more than three- 
fourths of the members elected were opposed to the Al- 
bany regency. 

The election of Mr.* Clinton did not diminish the hos- 
tility, or perhaps prejudice would be the preferable word, 
of the people's party in the senate against him. Messrs. 
Gardiner, Burrows, Burt, Haight, Lynde, and Ogden, all of 
whom belonged to the people's party, still entertained the 
same feelings towards him. General Tallmadge, too, 
who had been elected lieutenant-governor, and was there- 
fore president of the senate, entered fully into their feel- 
ings and views. A question soon came before the sen- 
ate which called into action those feelino;s. The te"rm 
of service of Rufus King, in the Senate of the United 
States, was to expire on the fourth of March, 1825, and 
on the first day of February, 1825, (the day fixed by law 



LIFE OF SILAS WIUGHT. 59 

for the election of senators of the United States,) the as* 
seinbly nominated Ambrose Spencer, late chief-justice, 
for that ofHce. His long experience, his agei and emi- 
nent talents, seemed to designate him above all others as 
the most suitable man to be selected for that important 
station. Nevertheless, the gentlemen above mentioned 
protested against his appointment, and early manifested a 
determination to oppose it. The remnant of the seven- 
teen who had defeated the passage of the electoral law, 
were of course oj)posed to Judge Spencer. The judge, 
from the year 18 IG, had been, as he always was in every 
cause in which he engaged, an ardent supporter of De 
Witt Clinton, and was, besides, connected with him by 
marriage. The people's men, therefore, were not dis- 
plea.sed at an opportunity of manifesting their discourtesy 
towards him. In this we think they displayed a want of 
mafrnanimitv. Thev had, it is true, differed from Judge 
Spencer ; but those points of diflerence no longer existed, 
and one would have supposed they would have seized 
with eagerness an opportunity of manifesting their regard 
for an eminent man of acknowledged integrity, who had 
been long in pf)litical life, and acted a most conspicuous 
part on the f)olitical theatre, by giving him a parting to- 
ken of respect and kindness. These considerations, how- 
ever, had no weight with the people's party. On this 
occasion they joined with the Crawford party^ who together 
devised a most extraordinary scheme to prevent the elec- 
tion of Judge Sjx^ncer. The opponents of Judge Spencer 
in the senate were largely in the majority in that body, 
and had the power of nominating Mr. Tallmadge, Colonel 
Young, or any other person they preferred ; but this they 
well knew would result in the election of Judge Spencer, 
for on a ballot in a joint-nieeting of the two houses he 



60 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 



would have been elected in opposition to any candidate 
whom the senate might put in nomination. The Craw- 
ford and people's senators therefore agreed not to agree 
on the nomination of any individual. The farce was 
conducted in the following manner : 

" The senate then," says the journal of that house, 
" pursuant to an act entitled ' An act prescribing the time 
and manner of holding elections for senators to represent 
this state in the senate of the United States,' and the con- 
current resolution of the senate and assembly, yesterday 
proceeded openly to nominate a. senator to represent this 
state in the senate of the United States* in the place of 
the Honorable Rufus King, whose term of service expires 
on the third day of March next, when each member pres- 
ent openly nominated as follows : 



Mr. Bowman 


nominated 


H. Seymour, 




' Brayton 


do. 


A. Spencer, 




' Burrows 


do. 


H. Wheaton, 




' Burt 


do. 


J. Tallmadge, 




' Clark 


do. 


A. Spencer, 




' Colden 


do. 


A. Spencer, 




' Cramer 


do. 


A. Spencer, 




' Crary 


do. 


A. Spencer, 




' Dudley 


do. 


E. P. Livingston, 




' Earll 


do. 


V. Birdseye, 




' Ellsjvorth 


do. 


S. Young, 




" Gardiner 


do. 


J. W. Taylor, 




" Greenly 


do. 


S. Beardsley, 




" Haight 


do. 


S. Young, 


" Keyes 


do. 


H. Huntington, 



* This is false. They did not proceed to nominate a senator. They 
refused to proceed to nominate. 



I.IKE OF 911, AS WRIGHT. 



61 



Mr. l.akf 

•' Lflli-rt.s 

Lyiiile 

" Mailory 

" McCall 

" Mcliityre 

" Mc.Micluiel 
Mori^an 

'• Kfilfieia 

" S|)eucer 

" Tlu»rn 

" War.l 

" Wilkoson 

" \V<M>sicr 

" \Vrii;lit 



nominated 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 



J. Suy<lam, 
J. T. Irvine, 
J. Tallinadge, 
E. P. Livingston, 
I. Wilson, 
A. S|»encer, 
A. S|>encer, 
A. S[»encer, 
J W. Taylor, 
D. E. Evans, 
A. S|)encer, 
J. C Yates, 
W. Paulding, .Tr., 
A. S|»encer, 
R. ('rane, 
y. Bird.seve. 



do. 

" Mr. Wilkfson then olVen^d a resolution declaring .\in- 
l»rosc S|H.'ncer the candiilate duly noininale<l on ifu* part 
• •f the senate. 

■ The resoluti«ni was lost — ayes eleven, noes twenty. 

"Mr. Wilkeson then oM'ered a similar resolution, that 
lames Talhnadge l)e the candidate of the senate. 

"Mr. KtMHi«-M moved that the resolution lie on the ta- 
hle. ('arrie<l — ayes nineteen, noes twelve. ' 

Varioiis other inelVectual attempts were matie to nomi- 
nate a Unite<l States senator, hut w ithout elVect. The sen- 
ate did indee<i at one time pass what j»ur|xjrted to he a joint 
resolution lor the nomination of Alhert II. Tracy, and at 
another for the appointment of den. Tallma<lge ; but the 
a.ssemhlv, a.s must have l)cen well known to the senate, 
could not concur in either of these resolutions without a 
violation of the existing law. and without surrendering 
'U ' advantage which their numbers gave them on a joint 





62 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

ballot. They therefore ought not to have concurred, 
even if they could have done so consistently with a law 
passed by all the departments which constitute the law-- 
making power. Every part of this transaction is in our 
judgment entirely without justification ; and it furnishes 
another instance where the devotion of Mr. Wright to 
his party, and his rigid adherence to the rule of regula- 
ting his own conduct, on questions of a purely party char- 
acter, by the determination of the majority of his political 
friends, led him into error. No United States senator 
was chosen during that session. 

Governor Clinton, in his message at the commence- 
ment of the session, had recommended the passage of a 
law authorizing the people of the state to choose, by 
general ticket, and by a plurality of votes, electors for 
president and vice-president. In the senate this part 
of the message was referred by order of the president to 
Messrs. Ogden, Cramer, and Lake. Mr. Ogden soon 
after, as chairman of this committee, made a report 
against the election of electors by general ticket, accom- 
panied with a bill providing that each congressional dis- 
trict should choose one elector, and that the electors 
when thus chosen should assemble and choose two elec- 
tors for the state. An ineffectual effort was made by 
Mr. Crary to amend this bill in such a manner that the 
electors should be chosen by general ticket. The bill 
finally passed, every member of the senate then present 
voting in favor of it, and was sent to the assembly, where 
it was so amended as to submit to the people at the next 
annual election, whether the election of electors should 
be by general ticket, or by districts. At the election, a 
majority of votes was given for the district system, and in 
1828, the election of electors was by districts. It will be 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. G.*? 

recollected that tlif death of Mr. Clinton occuiTed in that 
year, and that Mr. \'an Buren, in Nov. 1828, was elected 
governor. In his first and only message, Mr. Van Buren 
recommended the rej>eal of the law providing for the 
choice of electors by districts, which we have seen was 
enacted the by legislature in obedience to the fiat of the 
people expressed at the polls of the election, and the pas- 
sage of a law re<juiring the presidential electors to be cho- 
sen by general ticket and by a plurality of votes. His 
recommendation was jtromjUly ado|)ted by both houses 
of the legislature, and a law passed in conformity with it. 
The A'an Buren j)arty at that |>t'rif>d was surely a bold 
and adventurous party. When Mr. Crawford was a can- 
didate for the presidfMicy, they successfully rtj>posed giv- 
ing to the people the right of ch«M>sing ))residential elec- 
tors ; in lH-2r>, the same j>arty advocated the choice of 
electors bv single congressional districts, and in this they 
were su|>i>orted by a large majority of the peojile, speak- 
ing through the ballot-boxes; and at the earliest moment 
after the death of Mr. Clinton, which explains the whole 
matter, that same jiarty having a majority in both houses 
of the legislature, without a reference to the |ieople who 
hat! a short time In'fore declared in favor of the district 
system, abolished that system, and established, by a law 
of their own making, the general-ticket system, which 
had been recommended by Mr. Clinton, and which, by 
their votes, thev had condemned. We are free to say, 
that in our ojtinion. the law recommended by Mr. Van 
Buren was right ; but if so, the bill reported by Mr. Og- 
den, and which received a unanimous vote in the .senate, 
was wrong. 

We gladly turn from these sinister manrruverings of 
partisan j^K»liticians to a great question of principle, which 



ill LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

engaged the attention of the legislature of 1825, and in 
which Mr. Wright acted a part highly honorable to his 
memory. 

At the commencement of the session, numerous appli- 
cations were presented, both to the senate and assembly, 
for bank charters. At that time, it will be recollected that 
the restraining law was in force in all its rigor, and the 
chartered banks virtually held the exclusive right of coin- 
ing money. Hence bank charters were of great value, 
and eagerly sought after. But under the constitution of 
1821, no charter could be granted without the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of the members of the legislature 
elected to each house. This required pow^erful combina- 
tions in order to obtain a charter for any moneyed institu- 
tion. Mr. Wright viewed with abhorrence the grant of 
these exclusive privileges. 

On the eighth day of January the comptroller, in obe- 
dience to a resolution moved by Mr. J. C. Spencer, re- 
ported that there were then forty-two incorporated bank- 
ing institutions in the state of New York, having the right 
to employ in their business a capital of $28,900,000. Not- 
withstanding this sri'eat number of banks already charter- 
ed, the legislature had not been in session but a few days, 
before there were applications for chartering between 
thirty and forty new banks. Mr. Wright had by this 
time acquired a powerful iniluence in the senate, a fact 
w^hich was w^ell known to the public, and especially to the 
shrewd and sagacious agents for procuring bank charters. 
Hence the pressure brought upon him must have been 
very great. Whatever could tempt the ambition, or grat- 
ify the cupidity, or minister to the vanity of man, must 
have been either directly or indirectly exhibited to him, 
in the hope of gaining his support. But vain were all 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 65 

such efforts. He took a firm stand against the extension 
of exclusive privileges, and maintained it resolutely and 
sternlv, maugre the blandishments of political or personal 
friends and the threats of opponents. During that session 
sixteen bank charters passed the assembly, and fourteen 
were originally introduced into the senate, which passed 
to a third reading. The greater part of these failed of 
obtaining a constitutional vote in the senate ; and we have 
no doubt that that failure was in most cases produced by 
the personal efforts and influence of I\Ir. Wright. After 
a careful examination of the senate journal of the session 
of 1825, we have been unable to find that in a single in- 
stance Mr. Wright voted in favor of chartering a bank.* 



• To show with what painful anxiety ihis combination of bank ap- 
plicanU bore on tlie mind of Mr. Wright, we beg leave to relate an aucc- 
dole tommuuicated to the author by a gentleman who lodged in the same 
room with Mr. Wright, during the winter of 1825. Mr. Wright was oc- 
casionally subjfct to restless nights, or rather his sleep was sometimes un- 
quiet. One night whicii succeeded a day when some of the bank bills 
had been diBCussed iu the senate, after Mr. W. had been asleep for some 
time, ho sprang from his bed to the floor, being still asleep, and exclaimed 
with a loud voice, " My God ! the combination is too strong — every bank 
will pass !" When he awoke it was with great difficulty that his ner- 
vous system could be so far quieted as to enable him to obtain any more 
rest during that night 

6» 



66 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Result of the Eleetiou in November, 1825 — Mr. Wright's Influence in the 
Seuate — His Manner of discussing Questions — Case of Jasper Ward — 
Mr. Wright's Report thereon — He is elected a member of Congress in 
November, 1826. 

The election in November, 1825, resulted in the return 
of a majority of members to the assembly who were the 
regular nominees of the democratic party in the respect- 
ive counties from which they came, and who were politi- 
cally opposed to the governor. This result, although 
unexpected, might have been anticipated by the Clinto- 
nians, had they reflected coolly and deliberately on the 
then existing state of things. The party which was so 
successful at the preceding election, was composed of 
such heterogeneous materials, that union of action among 
them was impossible ; while the greater part of the real 
friends of Gov. Clinton were so sure of their strength, and 
so confident of success, sustained as they were by the 
weight of character and popularity of the governor, that 
they relaxed in their vigilance and in their efforts. Gen. 
Root was elected to the assembly from Delaware, and 
Col. Young, who, at the meeting of the legislature, was 
made speaker, was elected from the county of Sara- 
toga. 

Mr. Wright continued his constant attendance in the 
senate, devoting himself diligently and laboriously to 
legislative business. His influence there daily increased. 
He took an active part in all the discussions of that body ; 



LIFK OF SILAS WRIGHT. * 67 

he never on any occasion made the least effort at display, 
his sole object was to convince his associates of the cor- 
rectness of his position ; and being candid and frank in 
coinnmnicating his views, and clear and logical in his 
reasoning, he generally succeeded in his efforts. He did 
not seek to be eloquent, though sometimes he was really 
so, but it was produced by the magnitude of his subject, 
and the power and vigor of his mind, and not by any 
effort to dazzle or to charm. Of all legislative debaters 
we ever knew, except perhaps Daniel Webster, whom 
in many resjxjcts he mentally resembled, in his public 
sj)eeches he availed himself least of local and popular 
prejudices, or to use what is now a common expression, 
talked least to " Buncom." 

Aj)plications for chartering a banking company, to be 
called "The Grand Canal Bank," also a bill for charter- 
ing the Merchants' Exchange Bank, and three others, 
some of which we believe h;ul passed the assembly, came 
before the senate early in this session, but all of them 
were opposed by Mr. Wright, and rejected, or indefinite- 
ly post}X)ned by the votes of a large majority of the sen- 
ators. There can be no doubt that the arguments of Mr. 
Wright at the ])receding and present session had a pow- 
erful if not a decisive influence in changing the opinions 
of a majority of his associates, which produced the result 
we bavc mentioned. 

. At the preceding session of the legislature, in pursu- 
ance of the recommendation of Gov. Clinton, two amend- 
ments hiid been proposed to the constitution, one of which 
was an extension of the elective franchise, and the other 
to provide for the election of justices of the peace by the 
people. These amendments were submitted to the peo- 
ple at the November election, and were approved' by a 



(>3 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

large majority of the electors. They were therefore, in 
pursuance of the constitution, again brought before the 
legislature during this session. When these resolutions 
came up in the senate, Mr. Wright voted for the exten- 
sion of the elective franchise, but against the election of 
justices of the peace by the people. When the latter vote 
was taken, thirty-one members of the senate were present, 
twenty-nine of whom voted for the amendment, and two 
only, Mr. Wright and Mr. Mallory, against it. No doubt 
his opinion on the subject had become so fixed and set- 
tled that it could not be changed : we think it was wrong, 
but we admire that inflexible honesty and independence 
which induced him to vote against a measure which he 
knew to be popular with an immense majority of the 
people, and to record that vote, all but alone, against the 
united votes of his fellow-senators. 

On the first day of the session, Jasper Ward, a senator 
from the first district, made a communication to the sen- 
ate, stating that charges had been made against him in 
the New York American and Evening Post, durinsr the 
recess of the senate, that " as an inducement to effect the 
passage of an amendment to the act incorporating the 
Chatham Insurance Company, and the passage of the act 
incorporating the ^Etna Insurance Company of said city, 
he had been guilty of con'upt conduct as a senator of this 
state. The senate will know," said Mr. Ward, " the 
importance of preserving the integrity of their own body, 
and how to maintain their own honor. As a member of 
that body, and to vindicate my own reputation from the 
base slanders by which it has been assailed, I consider 
myself also entitled to demand from them an official in- 
quiry into the subject ; and I therefore respectfully request 
that nleasures may be taken by the honorable the senate, 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. G9 

eftcctually to investigate the charges alluded to, and to 
establish their truth or falsity." 

From this bold and confident appeal one would be led 
to believe that Gen. Ward was an innocent and injured 
man ; the result, unfortunately for him, proved otherwise. 
The senate ordered the communication to be referred to 
a select committee, to consist of five members, with power 
to send for persons and papers. This order, if we rightly 
recollect, was made on the motion of ]Mr. J. C. Spencer, 
although from the journal of the senate it does not appear 
by whom the motion was made.* On the 7th of Janu- 
ary', four days after Gen. Ward's letter was read in the 
senate, Mr. Wright offered the following resolution : 
. " Resolved, That the committee to whom was referred 
the communication of Jasper Ward, made to the senate 
on the 3d of January instant, be instructed to inquire into 
the truth of the charges contained in the New York 
American and in the New York Evening Post, some time 
during the months of July or August last, in relation to 
the conduct of the said Jasper Ward, in etfecting the 
passage of an amendment to the act incorporating the 
Chatham Insurance Company, and the passage of the act 
incorporating the iEtna Company, and into other im- 
proper conduct in the passage of either of the said bills, 
in which the said Jasper Ward shall appear to have been 
directly or indirectly concerned." 

The investigation by the committee was laborious and 
thorough, and the report able, as our readers will readily 
believe when they recollect that two such men as Silas 
Wright and John C. Spencer conducted the examination 

* Wriffht, Spencer, Burrows, McCall, and Haight, were appointed by 
the president to coustitiite tlie committee. 



70 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

and drew the report. The report and copy of the depo- 
sitions taken by the committee, occupy seventy foho pages 
in the senate's journal. 

The following extract from the Evening Post contains 
the charges against Mr. Ward, of which he complained : 

To the Editor of the Evening Post : 

Sir — In the New York National Advocate of this 
morning, there is an article addressed to me, with a string 
of queries, signed " Eighty Shares." Now, Mr. Editor, 
I cannot think of holding any communication with the 
Honorable writer of " Eighty Shares," but for the infor- 
mation of the stockholders I will state that the intention 
of the persons composing the ticket which was made out 
at the meeting of the 18th inst., is to bring the late sec- 
retary to a speedy settlement, and to be especially careful 
that neither he nor the Hon. Jasper Ward, the president, 
shall any longer manage, or rather mismanage, their af- 
fairs, but that the books, papers, and property of the com- 
pany shall be placed in the hands of men of integrity. 
Would it not have been well for " Eighty Shares" to have 
put one or two questions about the Honorable the presi- 
dent : as for instance, to whom did he give the $2,200 
which was drawn from the funds of the Chatham Insu- 
rance Company last winter, and for which he has hith- 
erto refused to give particulars, but says that he (a sen- 
ator at the time) gave it to the lobby for the purpose of 
getting an amendment to the charter ? and further, did 
it all go to the lobby ? I shall decline any further news- 
paper discussion. If any stockholder wishes information, 
I shall be pleased to give it him. My residence is at 
No. 33 Bowery. 

David Baker. 



LIFE OF SILAS VVRIGUT. 71 

The charges j)uhhshed in the American were contain- 
ed in a coniiiiuiiication from an anonymous correspond- 
ent. The communication was in the following words : 

To the Hon. Jasper Ward, Senator : 

8iR — 1. What amount did you receive of the JEtna. 
Insurance Company for your influence in the obtaining 
of their charter ? 

•J Did you or did you not sell certain certificates, au- 
thorizing any one to subscribe one year from date, with- 
out interest, to that stock ? 

3. From whom was your money obtained ? 

4. Did vou not demand this for your vote ? When did 
you see Mr. Baker, no process having as yet been 
served on him ? It is taken for granted that your asser- 
tion is not true — you know his to be true. There are 
some other transactions the honorable senator will in a 
few days be requested to answer for. 

An iNauiRER. 

Several of these charges the committee reported were 
wholly unsustained by proof; but enough was proved to 
induce Mr. Wriglit, as chairman of the committee, on 
the 28th day of February, to offer the following resolu- 
tions : 

" Resolved, That the conduct of Jasper Ward, a senator 
from the first senate district, and the means used by him, 
in obtaining the passjige through the legislature of the act 
entitled, 'An act to amend the charter of the Chatham 
Fire Insurance Comjjany ;' and also his conduct, and the 
means used by him, in obtaining the passage of the act 
entitled ' An act to incorporate the iEtna Fire Insurance 
Company of New York,' were a violation of his duties 



72 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

as a senator, affording a pernicious and dangerous exam- 
ple, tending to corrupt the public morals, and to impair 
the public confidence in the integrity of the legislature, 
and that his conduct in these respects deserves and 
should receive severe reprehension. Therefore, 

" Resolved, That the said Jasper Ward, senator as 
aforesaid, be, and he hereby is, expelled the senate." 

This resolution was laid on the table ; and, on the mo- 
tion of Mr. McCall, a member of the select committee, it 
was ordered that Mr. Ward should be heard by counsel, 
and a day fixed for the hearing ; but on the next day 
General Ward addressed the following note, which it will 
be perceived contained his resignation, to the president of 
the senate : 

Sir — Unwilling to retard the business of the honora- 
ble the senate by any thing that concerns me individual- 
ly, I have, upon mature reflection, concluded to waive 
the indulgence granted me to appear before the senate by 
counsel. I do this from the conviction, that the honora- 
ble body over which you preside is fully competent to 
decide on the merits of my case as justice may require, 
without the agency of counsel. At the same time, per- 
mit me to request' you to inform the senate that I hereby 
resign my seat as a member of their body. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. Ward. 

The prosecution of these charges against a man who 
for a long time had been his associate in the senate, who 
was his political friend, and who, it is altogether probable, 
possessed many amiable qualities, and until that time had 



LIFE OP 81L.\8 WRIGHT. 73 

sustained an unblemished reputation, must have been ex- 
tremely painful to -Mr. Wright. But on a question in 
which the purity of legi.slation is concerned, no delicacy 
■ >f feehng towards an ass(Kiate, and no considerations of 
{)ersonal or |M»litical friendship, cnuld restrain him from 
doing his duty, and his whole duty. 

We submit one other remark. We know nothing per- 

i»nally of Clen. Wani. Hut we liave a right to presume 
'fiat he was, and we think we have heard him sjK»ken of 
as, a man of fair character, and an agreeable meml)er 
of ^^ociety. Vet was (Jen. Ward, by the cornipt system 
which then prevaiU«l, in prf)curing charters i^ianting to 
< i>m[>anics rxclusive privileges, drawn from one step to 

UHtther of vice, if not crime, until he was placed in a po- 
-ilion iK'forc the community which will probably prevent 
his b«'ing useful to the public at any future time. It is 
consoling to reflect that the new constituti<m deprives 
the legislature of the p<^)wer of grantmg exclusive privi- 
l»""'fs. anil in fact takes awav nil inducements to the for- 
mation of corrupt combinations to influence legislation. 
The " altar and the gfxl must sink tr»gether." The disgrace- 
ful scenes of IRl'J, 18*21, and ]H'2't. w ill never be renewed.* 



• A* a iipr^iiiirn of th«> ni»najj«*mmt of anwciations lo procure chartr>r«, 
and of rh.irtrfrd roiTipniiim, wp ropy from tlir r»'port of the commillee a 
part of ihrir ■tinimary of lli*' il<-|Mxiili<in4 taken hy them. 

< >iif< of the rhnrife* «|^inat Gen. Ward wa«, that he had drawn from 
the fiinda of the company llie sum of g'J,'2(tO, for which he had refuifd to 
account, '* Iwit all<»grd, that he hring a memhrr of tht »tnntf at the lime) 
had gtrrn ihr mnnry lo the laliLy fur Ihe p'lrpone of gettitif; an amend- 
mrnt lo ihe chnrirr of the company pa**fd through the legislature." 
In rrlalion lo thin charge, the committee iwy that it was proved, " that in 
the winter of l"*iJ3, a p»>lilion, eivjncd by certain membem of the Chatham 
Fire lu^iirauce Company, wa.* prreented lo llie legislalure, praying the 
pa.'^iage of certain amendments to the charter of that conipany ; that du- 



74 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

In respect of the charge that General Ward received 
money of the ^Etna Insurance Company for his influence 
in obtaining their charter, the committee say that Wil- 



ling that session, the prayer of that petition was not granted ; that in the 
summer or fall of the same year, Gen. Ward represented to the finance com- 
mittee of that company, that it was best to renew the application for the 
amendments to the charter of the company at the then next session of the 
legislature, and that it ' might or would be necessary to issue some of the 
stock of the company to procure their passage through the legislature.' 
That the finance committee did, pursuant to such representations of Gen- 
Ward, pass a resolution authorizing Gen. Ward (he then being president 
of the company, and ex^officio a member of the committee, aud being then 
also a member of the senate of this state) and Thomas Hyatt (who was 
then also a director of the company, a member of the committee, and a 
member elect of the house of assembly of this state) to issue stock of the 
company, net exceeding ^20,000 in amount ; that the avowed object for 
issuing part of this stock at least, if any should be issued, was to pay such 
out-door or lobby agents as Messrs. Ward and Hyatt should think it ne- 
cessary to employ to assist them in getting these amendments passed : 
that Messrs. Ward and Hyatt did take upou themselves voluntarily the 
agency of issuing this stock for the company, or so much of it as they 
might think it necessary to have issued, and of employing such person or 
persons as they should think it necessary to employ to obtain the amend- 
ments, although it does not appear that Hyatt ever acted under this pow- 
er : that this authority given to Messrs. Ward and Hyatt was perfectly 
discretionary in them, with the single limitation that the amount of stock 
to be issued by them should in no event exceed ^^OjOOO : that Gen. Ward 
did attend the senate as a member thereof, during the winter and fall ses- 
sions of that body in the year 1824: did present the petition of the mem- 
bers of the Chatham company, praying for the passage of the amendments 
to their charter, and did use his influence as a member of the legislature 
to obtain the passage of the bill, but did not vote upon it : that he did, in 
the fall of 1823, employ Herman Ruggles as an out-door or lobby agent to 
aid the passage of the same, and did agree to give him for such services as 
he might render in the premises, in case the amendments should become 
a law, a right to subscribe to ^12,000 of the stock of the company at par 
value: that the bill containing the amendments passed the senate on the 
25th day of Februarj', 1824, and the same bill passed the assembly on the 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 75 

Ham J. Waldron, who was a principal applicant for the 
charter, testitit'd that '• after the bill incorporating the iEtna 
Fire Insurance Company had passed the assembly, and 
before it had passed the senate, and some time in the 



17th day of November of the same year; and that Ruggles, pursuant to 
■uch employment, did a«j(it in the passage of the bill as a lobby agent : 
that some tune in the course of the year 1824, Gen. Ward, as president of 
the Chathum Fire InKurance Company, did isnue and deliver to the said 
Herman Kuijijlfn, two certificates of a rijjht to subscribe to thu stock of 
the company at par value, one for the sum of §!r(,000, and the other for 
the sum of $I2,(X)0 : that the capital stock of the company is §400,000, 
but that the compuny, by its cliart«r, was permitted to commence busi- 
nei« whenever jBj2tl(),()(K) of ita capital stock should be subscnbt'd and ac- 
tually paid in, or iiecure<l to be paid ; that the board of directors had re- 
■olved to go into operation upon this latter sum of $200,000 of their capital 
■lock, all of which had been siibxcribed and actually paid in, or secured to 
be paid, before th'.' authority was given to Mensrs. Ward and Hyatt as 
above mentioned : tliat it required a resolution of the board of directors of 
the company to authonze any additional subscriptions to the stock of the 
same, uiid tliut no such resolution had ever been passed ; that therefore 
Rugglfs was not p«'rmilted to nubscribe for the stock mentioned in the 
certificate* pursuant to the terms thereof, but that the secretary of the 
company was authorized by the finance committee of the company to 
make a commutation in money with Ruggles for the certificates, by pay- 
ing him a certain premium upon the stock covered by them, in lieu of his 
right to HubHoribe for the stock : that the secretary did make such com- 
mutation with Ruzgles for the $12,000 certificate on the 3d day of De- 
cember. lH24,and did pay him, in obedience to the express directions of 
the finance connniltee of the company, out of tiie funds of the company, 
for that certificate, the sum of $1,200, or 10 per cent premium upon the 
par value of the slock mentioned in it ; and that the secretary did also, 
on the .3(1 day of Janujiry, 182.'), make a commutation with Ruijs^lcs for 
the §^,000 certificatf, and did pay him for that certificate, pursuant to 
the further express directions of the same committee, out of the funds of 
the company, the sum of §1,000, or 12i per cent, premium upon the 
par value of the stock mentioned in it- 

" In the proof of thej^e facts, the committee believe there is no material 
contradiction in the testimony of the several witnesses." 



76 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

month of March, 1824, Gen. Ward came to New York; 
that he, Waldron, called upon him, and inquired about 
the progress of this bill ; that Gen. Ward informed him 
it had passed the assembly ; that there would still be great 
difficulty in getting it passed the senate ; but that he, 
Gen. Ward, had made such arrangements with certain 
influential individuals out of doors, that if Waldron would 
issue certificates of a right to subscribe to $20,000 of the 
stock of the company, it could be got through : that he, 
Waldron, agreed to issue the said certificates, and asked 
Gen. Ward how the certificates should be drawn ; that 
Gen. Ward drew and gave to him the form in which 
they should be drawn, and also the amount for which he 
wished each certificate to be issued — to wit, three for 
$5,000 each, one for $3,000, and one for $2,000 stock ; 
that he, Waldron, took the form drawn by Gen. Ward, 
and made out the fiv^e certificates for the amounts re- 
spectively directed by Gen. Ward, and delivered them 
to him with his own hand, the five certificates amounting 
to just the sum of $20,000, all dated the 23d day of March, 
1824, and all drawn precisely after the form given to him 
by Gen. Ward, except that Gen. Wai-d's form gave the 
right to subscribe the stock ' within one year after the 
company goes into operation,' and the certificates 'with- 
in one year after the passage of the act of incorporation ;' 
that Gen. Ward, in a day or two after, left New York for 
Albany, and that the bill passed the senate on the 30th 
day of the same month, as appears by the senate jour- 
nals, page 339 ; that he, Waldron, has no knowledge of 
the disposition which Gen. Ward made of any of these 
certificates, except of the one for $2,000, which one he, 
Waldron, afterwards, and some time in the spring or 
summer of 1824, bought of John RadclifF, and paid him 



LIKE OF SILAd WRIUHT. 77 

$00 lor it, Jiiul that Kadclitr informed liiiii that lie re- 
ceived it Irotu Lieu. Ward." 

In the laJl of iH^Hi, and before his term of service in 
the senate had expired, Mr. Wright was a candidate for 
congress from the double district coinj>osed of the coun- 
ties of JetU-rson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence. Mr. 
Rudolph IJunner, of Oswego, was his lussociate. Mr. Nice! 
IWlick. of Herkimer, and Mr. Elisha Camp, of JeH'er- 
8on, were their competitors. The election was contested 
with great zeal, and with strong ho|>es of success by the 
(Mintonian candidates, but Messrs. Wright and Bunner 
were elected by more than five hundred majority. 

T 



78 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 



CHAPTER V. 

Mr. Clinton re-elected Governor and Gen. Pitcher Lieutenant-governor — 
Causes of this Result — Mr. Wright's Confidential Letter to Mr. Van 
Buren in 1826 — Mr. Wright's Report on the Petition of David E. Evans 
— Mr. Flagg's Report on the Enlargement of the Erie Canal — Mr. Rug- 
gles' Report on the State Finances, from the Committee of Ways and 
Means — Mr. Van Buren re-elected to the Senate of the United States 
— Mr. Wright resigns his Seat in the Senate of New York. 

Although the democratic party succeeded in electing 
a majority of the members of assembly in the fall of 1826, 
Mr. Clinton was re-elected governor. But his success 
did not prevent the election of Gen. Pitcher for lieutenant- 
governor against Henry Huntington, of Oneida coun- 
ty, the worthy and popular candidate of the Clintonian 
party. This result was probably produced by the fact 
that Mr. Pitcher, as well as Mr. Clinton, was in favor of 
a plan, some time before recommended by Gov. Clinton, 
for the construction, by the state, of a road, from some 
point on the Hudson river, through the western tier 
of counties, to Lake Erie. The electors therefore in 
some of those counties, and especially in the county of 
Steuben, disregarding the nominations of the parties to 
which they respectively belonged, voted for Mr. Clinton 
and Gen. Pitcher. 

There was another circumstance which favored the 
re-election of Gov. Clinton, which we have related at 
large in a former volume, and we mention it now for the 
sake of stating more particularly the action of Mr. Wright 
in relation to it. 



LIFK UK .SILAS WRIGHT. 79 

The question in respect to the selection of a candidate 
for the next {>resident had already begun to be agitated. 
Mr. \'an Buren and Mr. Wright, and other leading dem- 
ocrats, had oj)enly expressed their disai)probation of the 
nminier in which Mr. Adains had been elected president, 
and exhibited tokens of dissatisfaction with his administra- 
tion. If they did not o{)enly oppose it, they were evidently 
cold towards it ; indeed, they already denounced some of 
the measures sustained by Mr. Adams, and several of his 
apjK)ititments ; and elTorts were undoubtedly then being 
made by Mr. \iiu Buren to prepare the minds of his friends 
for the su|)p<>rt of (len. Jackson. Still Mr. Van Buren, 
and those acting with him. were at that time called " iion- 
committah." tSo cautious and quiet were Mr. Van Bu- 
ren's movements on this question, that at the democratic 
state convention, held at Herkimer, for the nomination 
of a governor, Judge Rtxhester, of Monroe county, an 
o|)cn and avowed supporter of the administration of Mr. 
Adams, and who had been appointed on a foreign mission 
by him, was, in con.sequence of a strong western feeling 
in his favor, nominated as the op[)Osing candidate to Gov. 
Clinton. 

Mr. Clinton, from the year 1824 down to the present 
time, had been the open and decided advocate of Gen. 
Jackson. Mr. Wri-jht, who long since had lost all his 
partiality for Mr. Adams, and entered cordially into Mr. 
Van Buren's views, was a strict caucus man. The max- 
im of "every thing for his party — nothing for himself," 
governed him in this as in all his subsequent political ac- 
tions ; he and his a.ssociates supported Mr. Rochester, 
who was known to be an Adams man, because he was 
the regular candidate of the democratic party, and op- 
posed Mr. Clinton, who was equally well known as a 



80 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Jackson man. Mr. Wright probably believed that this 
course was necessary in order to preserve the unity of 
the democratic party ; and that should Mr. Rochester be 
elected, if a majority of that party should declare itself 
for Gen. Jackson, he would receive the votes of this state 
whatever might be the individual views or wishes of the 
governor. Hence the support of Mr. Rochester became 
a mere question of expediency. But there were many 
Bucktail democrats in the state, w ho were either so much 
dissatisfied w'ith Mr. Adams, or so partial to Gen. Jack- 
son, that they would not support a candidate for govern- 
or known to be the opponent of the latter. The most 
numerous class of this description of politicians resided 
in New York, where Major Noah, who had been a warm 
Crawford man, and was then editor of a popular demo- 
cratic paper called the National Advocate, came out de- 
cidedly for Clinton and Pitcher. The votes given Mr. 
Clinton in consequence of the state road question, and 
those given him in New York and elsewhere by the more 
ardent Bucktail friends of Gen. Jackson, together with 
his own high personal merit, enabled him to leave in tri- 
umph the field of battle, where nearly all his friends had 
been prostrated. 

It may be proper in this connection to notice the cele- 
brated confidential letter written by Mr. Wright, near the 
close of the session of 1826, to Mr. Van Buren, who was 
then at Washington, in the senate of the United States. 
This letter has excited more of the attention of the com- 
munity, and especially of the political opponents of Mr. 
Wright, than it merited. 

It has just been stated that Mr. Clinton, from the year 
1824 to the time of his death, was the open and decided 
advocate and friend of General Jackson. His friendship 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 81 

for Jackson was duly appreciated and reciprocated by 
that distinguished man.* We must also remind the read- 
er tiiat Mr. Van Buren and his confidential friends in 
New York, soon after the election of jMr. Adams to the 
presidency in the year 1825, had determined to support 
Gen. Jackson in opposition to Mr. Adams at the next 
presidential election, but that a very large majority of the 
democratic i)arty in 1826 were not then prepmred for 
such a course. Nevertheless, as Mr. Van Buren had 
determined to supjwrt Gen. Jackson, as Mr. Clinton was 
one of his earliest and firmest friends, and as the general 
was equally friendly to Mr. Clinton, the participation of 
Mr. Van Buren in the prosecution of the war against Mr. 
C. was extremely embarrassing, and might, if such war 
was not di.scontinued, disafiect Gen. Jackson with Mr. 
Van Buren, and those who acted with him. In this state 
of things some of the most influential friends of the latter 
gentleman at Albany and elsewhere, among whom we 
may mention that worthy and excellent man, Benjamin 
Knower, the late state treasurer, were of the opinion that 
no opposition ought to be made to the re-election of Mr. 
Clinton at the next gubernatorial election. But there 
were then strong and unconquerable prejudices existing 
against him in the minds of a majority of the democrats, 
or j)erhaps we ought to say Bucktails, in the state of New 
York. This was the state of things when, on the 4th of 
April, 1826, Mr. Wright wrote the letter in question. 
In that letter he informs Mr. Van Buren that gi-eat 
"alarm" had been excited among their friends at Albany, 
because Mr. M. M. Noah, and some other political friends 
in the city of New York, had declared themselves in favor 

• 2 Political History, 256. 



85i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

of the re-election of INIr. Clinton. He then goes on to argue 
that such a policy would be unwise and dangerous : that 
the Adams party,, which then comprised a large portion of 
the democratic party, would, if no candidate in opposi- 
tion to Mr. Clinton was regularly nominated, make a 
nomination ; and " such a candidate," said he. " the great 
bodv of our political friends throughout the state would 
enlist themselves to support against Clinton." * * * 
"Should we," continued Mr. Wright, "decline to support 
the candidate run aijainst Clinton, because he was friend- 
Iv to Adams, this would inevitably induce the friends of 
that candidate, two-thirds of whom, so far as the state is 
concerned, would be our friends, not only to run con- 
gress, senate, and assembly tickets, but to run them 
pledged to Adams. In any event then, fi-om this state 
of things, it does appear to me, that we should be be- 
tween two fires without the least prospect of escaping 
the flames, instead ofbring~i7ig off the spoils." This last 
expression has been animadverted upon with great se- 
verity. But if this sentiment, and the utterance of it 
confidentially to a friend, be sinful, we have only to say, 
let the politician in the state of New York who in this 
respect is without sin, " cast the first stone." 

Having an'ived at the conclusion that sound policy 
required that a candidate against Mr. Clinton should be 
put in nomination at a regular democratic state convention, 
Mr. Wright next proceeds to consider the question, who 
that candidate should be ;. and he thereupon, under the 
seal of confidence, discusses with great freedom the mer- 
its of several gentlemen who were spoken of as candi- 
dates, and finally concludes that Mr. Sanford. the late 
chancellor, would be the most available. His description 
of the characters of the persons he mentions is exceed- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 63 

ingly graphic, but according to our notions is just, while 
it is far from furnishing the least evidence of unkind feel- 
ings on the part of the writer. 

Our moral sensibilities may be more obtuse than those 
of other men, but considering the circumstances under 
which this letter was written, and that the object of the au' 
thor was to present his views of what was the wisest policy 
to be adopted in the existing exigency, we are unable to 
perceive any cause for charging Mr. Wright with improp- 
er or unjustifiable motives.* 



• Afl this letter, at the time it first made its appearance in the newspa- 
pere, waa published iii most if not all of the papers in the state belou^ng 
to the party then known by the name of National Republicans, and as in 
1846 it was republished in many of the whig papers, it may gratify the 
CDriosity of some readers to be informed how it happened that it was pub- 
lished at all. The following are the facts in relation to it : 

The letter, as before stated, was written, and sent to Mr. Van Buren at 
Washington, in April, 1826. When in lb'29 he was inaugurated as gov- 
ernor of the state, he brought this letter with other papers from Washing- 
ton to .\lbany ; but he was soon afterwards appointed by Gen. Jackson 
secretary of state, and returned to Washington. The letter in question 
was accidentally left in a bureau, in which he probably kept oth^r private 
papers while at Albany. In the autumn of 1629 or 1630, Mr. Van Bu- 
ren directed the furniture he had left in Albany to be sold at auction, and 
this bureau was purchased by Mr. Frederick Porter, who was engaged in 
mercantile business in that city. When Mr. Porter opened the bureau, 
for the purpose of depositing his own papers in it, he discovered Mr. 
Wright's letter, and forthwith brought it to me, and informed me of the 
means by which it came into his po6se««ion. It was an open letter, and 
1 read it Perceiving it was strictly a confidential letter, and learning that 
it came into Mr. Porter's hands entirely by accident, I advised him to re- 
turn it to .Mr. Wright. He seemed not to agree with me in opinion, and 
I finally told him I could not consent to have any agency in its publica- 
tion. It was then within a few diys of the annual election ; and .Mr. Porter 
the next day, having, as I suppose, in the interval communicated the sub- 
stance of the letter to some persons who were warmly engaged in the 
political coutesit then being carried on, called on me and demanded the 



84 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

In the senate, INlr. Wright was chairman of tlie Canal 
Committee, then, and perhaps now, the most important 
committee of that house. The triumphant completion of 
the Erie and Champlain canals, and the zeal displayed by 
Gov. Clinton for internal improvements in all his commu- 
nications, and especially in his annual messages, had pro- 
duced a higlily excited feeling in every section of the 
state where the construction of canals was believed to be 
practicable. Gov. Clinton, in his message in 1825, had 
specifically mentioned a great number of localities where 
canals might be constructed, and invited the attention of 
the legislature to the subject ; and the legislatuie, during 
the session which followed the delivery of that message, 
had made a provision for, and directed the survey of seven- 
teen of the routes enumerated by the governor. All this 
was calculated to excite the efibrts and flatter the hopes 
of citizens living on, or owning lands in the neighborhood 
of these various routes. 

The project of procuring the passage of a law^ for the 
construction of the Chenango Canal, had been for some 
time agitated, and although opposed by a majority of the 
canal board, and although among those who opposed it in 
the board were Mr. Marcy, then comptroller, iMr. Flagg, 
secretary of state, and Col. Yoimg, canal commissioner, 
a bill for the construction of this canal passed the assem- 
bly, and was sent to the senate for concuiTence. About 
this time the Genesee Yallev and Black River canals 



letter. I delivered it to him, and it was immediately published iu a paper 
called the Workivgman's Advocate. 

Mr. Porter is, I am told, now a resident of the city of Albany. I have 
not seen him for many years, but he was when I knew him, and I pre- 
sume is now, a worthy and respectable citizen ; he therefore can testify to 
the correctness of this statement. J. D. H. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 85 

were also projected. These great interests and power- 
ful combinations brought a pressure upon Mr. Wright as 
chairman of the committee on canals, wiiich few men 
could have resisted. But having, after due considera- 
tion, made up his mind on the subject of the extension of 
internal improvements, and the increase of the debt of the 
state, he did not attempt to temporize ; on the contrary, he 
sought an occasion to declare to the legislature and the 
people his fixed and settled principles. Such an occasion 
soon occurred. 

Early in the session of 1827, a petition, signed by Da- 
vid E. Evans, and many other worthy and influential 
citizens of the western part of the state, was presented to 
the senate, praying for the construction by the state of a 
canal from the Erie Canal, by the way of Tonawanda 
creek, to the Alleghany river at Olean ; and in case the 
legislature should think it inexpedient to engage in the 
enterprise at the expense of the state, and on its account, 
then that an act might be passed incorporating certain 
individuals hv the name of the " Tonawanda Canal Com 
pany," with a capital of S800.000, with power to con- 
struct the said canal. This petition was referred to the 
committee on canals, at that time consisting of Wright. 
Golden, and Ilaight. The improvement asked for was 
substantially the same as that subsequently adopted under 
the name of the Gene.see Valley Canal. The Erie and 
Champlain canals had been for some time completed. 
The canal debt, although large, was rapidly decreasing 
by the steadv aj)plication of the proceeds of the canal 
fund, and the toll of the Erie Canal, to the payment of its 
principal and interest, — thus aftbrding a certain prospect 
that the whole debt would be extinguished at no distant 
period. The petition of Mr. Evans and others presented 

8 



86 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

for the consideration of the committee the grave and im- 
portant question, whether the paying poUcy should be 
pursued until the state should be relieved from debt, or 
whether the system of internal improvements should be 
continued and extended, which, instead of leading to an 
extinction, would probably result in an increase of the 
public debt. It was easy to perceive, that if the views 
of those who were for granting this petition should pre- 
vail, the legislature could not, with any appearance of 
propriety, deny a similar prayer coming from the people 
of the Chenango valley, and those residing on the margin 
of the Black river. Mr. Wright felt deeply the impor- 
tance of the question submitted to the committee of which 
he was chairman, and he arrived at a conclusion to 
which he adhered during the rest of his life ; which was, 
that the state ought not, except in special cases, to en- 
gage in any new work of the kind without being well 
assured that the net income arising from such work 
" would reimburse the treasury for the expense of ma- 
king it." 

He made a long and able report on this petition.* He 
urged that the great principles which must be determined 
by the legislature before they should commence the con- 
struction of any new canals at the expense of the state 
were, " First, the practicability of making a canal upon 
the route proposed, and of obtaining a supply of water 
sufficient for its use. Second, the ability of the state to 
sustain the expense, or the resources from which the 
work is to be carried on. Third, the importance of the 
work, and the promise of its utility, and consequent in- 



See Senate Journal of 1827, p. 170. 



LIFE OF SJLA3 WRIGHT. 87 

come, to reiinburse the treasury for the expense of ma- 
king it." 

In considering the question whether the pecuniary 
abihty of the state was competent to defray the expense 
of constructing the proposed work, Mr. Wright presented 
a rapid but very lucid view of the funds of the state ; and 
ahhough the future receipts of the treasury from canal 
lolls exceeded his, and indeed all sober-minded men's an- 
ticij^ation, the statement is in the main correct. This 
report is interesting and valuable, as furnishing an im- 
portant item in the histqry of the finances of this state, 
because it presents, in a plain and simple manner, the 
funds of the state at that perii)d. Perhaps no man ever 
lived who could exhil)it abstruse and complicated matters 
with more clearness and simjdicity than Mr. Wright. 
From the view which the re[)ort presented of the funds 
of the state, it was evident that nothing could be spared 
for new works without deranging the financial schemes 
of the government, then in successful operation. 

The report protests against an extension of the credit 
of the state. " That the state," says the report, " has 
borrowed money for the construction of canals, is true, — 
that it can again do it, the committee do not doubt ; but 
that // has paid the money so borrowed, is not true." 

The practice at that time had not been tolerated to 
any extent, of loaning the credit of the state to corpora- 
tions, or rather of borrowing money to lend to corpora- 
tions. Had, since that time, all loans to private companies 
been nvoided. and had the state adopted the doctrines put 
forth by this report, and rigidly adhered to them up to the 
present period, it is evident the public debt would long 
since have been discharged, and the large surplus of canal 
revenue, now annually more than three millions, might 



88 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

have been applied to the improvement and enlargement 
of the grand canal, and for the construction of other ca- 
nals. It is submitted to the calculating financier, whether, 
if that course had been steadily pursued, at this moment 
the Chenango Canal might not have been completed, the 
Genesee Valley and Black River canals been as far ad- 
vanced as they now are, and the Erie Canal in as good a 
condition as it now is, without the state being indebted a 
single dollar !* 

* Since the above was written, we have seen the annual report of the 
comptroller for 1848, from which we extract the following statement : 

" If the recommendation of the canal board, in 1835, had been adhered 
to, and the entire surplus had been used for the enlargement of the Erie 
Canal, the following sums would have been applied to that object, to the 
30th September last : 

1837 $717,803 

1838 841,888 

1839 1,111,517 

1840 1,060,000 

1841 1,533,224 

1842 1,177,771 

1843 1,457,733 

1844 1,802,400 

1845 1,714,566 

1846 2,202,861 

1847 2,866,000 

$16,478,763 
" The sum actually expended on the enlargement, exclusive of interest 
paid on money borrowed, is $12,989,851.76. If the policy of applying 
the surplus tolls to the enlargement of the Erie Canal had been adhered to, 
the work at the present time would have been much nearer completion 
than it now is, and the debt of $10,122,000 for that object would not have 
been incurred." 

But previous to the year 1835, and subsequent to 1827, a debt of 
$2,270,000 for constructing the Chenango Canal had been contracted. To 
the sum of $16,478,763 which might have been applied to defray the ex- 
pense of enlarging the canal if Mr. Wright's policy, indicated in 1827. had 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 89 

It is a curious fact that the principles shadowed forth 
in this rej)ort, which then were novel, and were repudi- 



been adhered to, ought to be added all the interest which has been paid on 
the debt contracted for makiug the Chenango Canal. 

It \a no more than strict justice to the canal board of 1835, and to Mr. 
Flagg, who, it is said, was the author of the able report to which we are 
about to call the attention of the reader, to state, that a representation was 
in 18.35 communicated to the assembly, emanating from a public meeting 
held in the city of Utica, that measures ought to be taken to effect the 
construction of a ship canal between Lake Ontario and the Hudson river, 
and also a resolution by the common council of tlie city of New York, in 
favor of such canal, and the construction of it by the state. 

The proceedings of the meeting at Utica, and the resolution of the city 
authorities of New York, were referred by the assembly to the canal board, 
who, on the 2sth day of March, made a report, in which they show most 
conclusively that the enlargement of the Erie Canal would be preferable 
to the construction of a ship canal ; and they recommond that immediate 
measures be taken by the legislature to effect such eulargcmont. In coa- 
clusion the board say : — 

" lu urging upon the consideration of the legislature the importance of au- 
thorizing at the present session such au enlargement of the Erie Canal as is 
conceived to be necessary to adapt it to the increasing trade of the country, 
the canal board desire to have it distinctly understwjil, that they do not 
recommend such an expenditure of money upon this work as will interfere 
with the arrangements now in progress for accumulating a sum sufficient 
to pay the Erie and Chnmpluin Canal dtbt, and for restoring the auction 
and salt duties to the general fund. The net proceeds of tlie canal fund for 
1835-G-7, will probably be sufGcieut to pay the canal debt, and meet the 
disbursements on the contracts for doubling the locks. At the close of 
1837, the salt duties will be restored to the general fund, if the proposed 
amendment to the constitution should receive the sanction of the people. 
After the period alluded to, the net proceeds of the canal tolls will be 
sufficient to meet the disbursements necessary for improving and en- 
larging the Erie Canal, without having recourse to new loans for that 
purpose." — (See vol. iv. Executive Documents of 1835, No. 334.) 

This report is signed by Wm. C. Bouck, S. Van Rensselaer, A. C. 
Flagg, John A. Dix, Greene C. Bronson, William Campbell, and Michael 
Hoffman. 

Can any reasonable man doubt that if the policy shadowed forth in that 

8* 



90 LIFE OF SILAS WIUGHT. 

ated by a large and intelligent portion of the community, 
are now substantially a part of the constitution of the 
state. 

In connection with this report, it may not be improper 
to take notice of the celebrated report made by Mr. Sam- 
uel B. Ruggles, chairman of the assembly's committee of 
ways and means, in 1838,* a year in which the whigs ob- 
tained a very strong majority in the state and in the as- 
sembly. Although the report of Mr. Ruggles was made 
eleven years after the one made by Mr. Wright, of which 
we have just given an imperfect account, it in terms sev- 
eral times refers to Mr. Wright's report, and purports, 
and evidently was intended, to be an answer to it. 

This report was made not long after the legislature 
had determined to enlarge the Erie Canal, and construct 
the Genesee Vallev and Black River canals. It is drawn 
with great ability, and for eloquence, richness of imagery, 
and elegance of style, exceeds any legislative document 
which ever came to our notice. Mr. Rucro-les first exhib- 

Co 

its a view of the funds of the state, and the income which 
may be anticipated from them. With respect to the net 
avails which may be expected from the canals, he thinks 
previous estimates have not been sufficiently liberal as to 
the amount. He justly remarks that the income arising 
from the canals has uniformly exceeded the most san- 
guine anticipation of the projectors of those works. He 
reminds the legislature that the comptroller, in 1821, esti- 
mated the average net annual revenue from tolls, for ten 



part of the report we have copied had been rigidly pursued, all the really 
useful public works would have been as far advanced as they now are, 
while at the same time the state would not have owed a single cent? 
• See Assen;b!v Documents of 1838, Vol. 5, No. 242. 



LIFE OF S1LA3 WRIGHT. 91 

years to come, at $150,000, and that the amount actually 
received during that period exceeded ten iMillions of 
dollars ! 

The rej)ort stated that the Erie and Champlain canal 
debt was, to all practical purposes, paid in 1836 ; that the 
canals in that year yielded a net income of $1,107,871.30, 
which was the interest at five per cent, on a capital of 
8'2"2, 157,7 42. This, the report argued, was property which 
the state had ac(|uired, and from which, after deducting the 
debt contracted for making lateral canals, and two other 
debts, (the Astor and the bank fund debt,) amounting 
in all to )J4,13v2.756, there would be a balance remain- 
ing of •$17.(5"2 4,986, — a caj)ital on the income from 
which the state might base its calculations for future op- 
erations. Mr. Ruggles then proceeds to recommend 
immediate measures for enlarging the Erie Canal, which 
he thought might and ought to be completed in five years 
at an exjiense of fifteen millions of dollars. He asserts 
that thirty millions may be borrowed, and the interest 
regularly i»aid, and the principal reimbursed by means of 
the canals themselves in twenty years ; and that forty mil- 
lions may be borrowed, and the debt extinguished by the 
same means in twenty-eight years. 

If forty millions are borrowed, Mr. R. intimates that 
one-half of that sum should be expended in constructing 
two grand lines of railroads through the state, and the 
residue in improving the Erie Canal, and in making new 
canals. 

Mr. Ruggles criticises with some severity the report 
of Mr. Wright on the petition of David E. Evans, of 
which we have heretofore given an account. The canal 
commissioners had by their report estimated the net in- 
come from the Erie Canal after its enlargement at three 



92 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

millions annually. In proving that the estimate of rev- 
enue from the Erie Canal might be calculated upon at 
least to the amount estimated by the commissioners, Mr. 
Ruggles presents a graphic and bold sketch of those in- 
land seas, the great western lakes, and of the fertile, exten- 
sive, and magnificent states and territories which border 
upon them — their inexhaustible resources, and the aston- 
ishing rapidity with which they had increased in pop- 
ulation and commerce. " They would," he said, " con- 
tinue thus to increase by an increasing ratio. The 
greater part of the produce of this rich and flourishing 
country must find its way to market through the Erie 
Canal, which would so swell the amount of tolls as would 
enable the state to reduce the tolls from thirty to fifty per 
cent., and still secure the estimated net income of three 
millions annually." Mr. Ruggles appended to his report 
a table exhibiting the amount of the state debt in each 
year, for ten succeeding years, upon the plan that the 
state should borrow four millions every year ; in which 
case, of course, the whole sum borrowed by the state 
would amount to forty millions. He also presented an- 
other table, showing that if the money could be borrowed 
at an interest of five per cent., a sinking fund, to be com- 
posed of the surplus canal revenue, might be established, 
which would extinguish the forty million debt by the year 
1865. 

Before concluding the account of this report, which 
greatly excited the attention of the people of this state 
and nation, and indeed of Europe, we will add, in 
this place, though ten years in advance of the period of 
which we are now treating, that the assembly of 1838, 
elected under the influence of the tornado which burst 
forth in the fall of 1837, contained a very large ma- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 93 

jority of whigs, the senate being at the same time strongly 
democratic. 

The committee of the assembly on canals and internal 
improvements, of which G. W. Patterson, afterwards 
speaker, was chairman, reported so far in accordance 
with the views of Mr. Rugglcs, as to recommend the 
immediate commencement of the enlargement of the 
canal, and that a loan of one million of dollars be au- 
thorized for the ensuing year ; and a bill for that purpose 
was intnxluced and passed the assembly. When, how- 
ever, it came into the senate, it was there amended by 
striking out one and inserting /oMr millions of dollars, 
and in this form it passed both houses. We have before 
stated, that in 1835, when the law for the enlargement 
of the canal was passed, the canal board recommended 
that the sur])Ius tolls only, which might be received from 
the canals, should be applied to defray the expense of the 
undertaking, and that no new debt should be contracted 
on that account ; but in passing the law recommended by 
the canal board, the legislature reduced the sum for 
widening the canal, by requiring that $300,000 of the 
canal revenue should be annually applied for the current 
expenses of the government. 

Without assuming to judge of the merits of the conflict- 
ing systems exhibited by the report of Mr. Wright in 1827, 
and that of Mr. Iluggles in 1838, as being a question which 
more appropriately falls within the province of the states- 
man, than one which pertains to the more humble duties 
of the historian, who discharges his obligation to the pub- 
lic by the simple narration of facts only, we may be per- 
mitted to remark, that in our view neither of -the parties 
to this controversy was free from error. It seems to us 
that Mr. Wright did not perceive and fully appreciate the 



94 LIFE OF SILAS WlilGHT. 

resources of the state ; that his apprehensions of its in- 
capacity to make public improvements and pay for them, 
were too gloomy and desponding ; and it is certain that in 
1827, he, in common with all other intelligent men, was 
greatly mistaken in the estimate he formed in relation to 
the amount of revenue which might be received, and 
which, in fact, subsequently was realized from the ca- 
nals. 

On the other hand, Mr. Ruggles, probably too much 
controlled by an ardent but brilliant imagination, based 
his calculation upon an assumed fact which experience 
very soon proved erroneous ; which was, that forty 
millions of dollars might be borrowed in ten annual in- 
stalments, at an interest of five per cent. Mr. Ruggles 
himself in his report informs us that the western states 
bordering on the great lakes, at the moment when he 
drew his report, had undertaken works of internal im- 
provement which would cost more than forty-eight mil- 
lions of dollars, every dollar of which, it was well known, 
must be raised by a loan, that is to say, by a sale of stocks 
to be created by those states. Was it then reasonable to 
expect, that when the stock market should be thus flooded, 
the state of New York could, for ten years in succession, 
borrow four millions of dollars annually at an interest of 
five per cent. ? Experience soon proved how fallacious 
this expectation was, if indeed it ever existed. The 
price of stocks soon became sadly depressed in market, 
and even six per cent, stocks could not be converted 
into cash without a great and ruinous sacrifice. This 
single error was of itself sufficient to demolish, and did 
in fact demolish, the splendid fabric erected by the tal- 
ented but highly imaginative Mr. Ruggles. 

The bill from the assembly to construct the Chenango 



LIFE OF 8ILA3 WRIGHT. 95 

Canal was rejected in the senate by a vote of fourteen to 
ten. 

On the Gth of Februar>^ Mr. Van Buren was re-elected 
senator of the United States. A feeble effort was made 
by a few of the Adams men, in conjunction with a ma- 
jority of the Clintonian members, to defeat him, and for that 
pur|)ose the name of Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer was 
used ; but Mr. Van Buren was supported with great ar- 
dor by his old friends, among whom Mr. Wright was one 
of tfie most prominent, and also by several of the most 
inlluential Clintonians. He was elected by a large ma- 
jority. It was remarked, and we believe truly, before this 
election, by, as we think, some of Mr. Van Buren's 
friends, that no man was authorized to say he would sup- 
port Gen. Jackson for the next president, or even that he 
would ojipo.se the re-election of Mr. Adams. 

The re-election of ]Mr. Van Buren was particularly 
agreeable to Mr. Wright, and the more so as he was a 
member elect of the next congress. We may perhaps as 
well mention here as anywhere else, that from the time 
Mr. W^right came into public life until his death, he and 
Mr. Van Buren were cordial personal and political friends, 
and we are not aware of any one instance in which they 
differed in opinion. It may be presumed that Mr. Wright, 
from Mr. Van Buren's great experience in public hfe, and 
extensive accjuaintance throughout the Union, as well as 
from his respect for the judgment of that gentleman, gener- 
ally deferred to his opinion, and was guided by it ; but we 
personally know that Mr. Van Buren entertained the highest 
respect for the capacity and judgment of Mr. Wright, and 
tiie case must have been a clear one in the view of the 
former which would have induced him to adopt a meas- 
ure in opposition to the advice of the latter 



96 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

On the 4th of March, 1827, Mr. Wright resigned his 
seat in the senate of New York. The loss of so able a 
member was deeply felt by the people of the state, and 
more especially by the body of which he had been so dis- 
tinguished a member. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 97 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mr. Wright takes his seat as a Member of the Twentieth Congress — 
Presidential Election and the Tariff Question— Tariff of 1816— Tariff 
Convention at Harrisburg — The Southern Scheme of conducting the 
Election — Committee on Manufactures — Mr. Wright a Member of it — 
His Report — Debate thereon in the House of Representatives — Mr. 
Wright attends the .State Convention at Herkimer as a Delegate — 
He is Dominated, and again elected to Congress. 

Mr. Wright having been transferred to a broader and 
more extended theatre of political action, it now becomes 
our duty to follow him to the representative hall of the 
twentieth congress. 

The presidential election was to take place in the au- 
tumn succeeding the session of congress in which Mr. 
Wright first took his seat as a member of the House of 
Representatives. The great question on which it was 
supposed that election would turn was, whether a ma- 
jority of the people of the United States were in 
favor of a tariff for the protection of American indus- 
try ; or rather, at that day the question was, whether 
they were for increasing the protective duties then es- 
tablished by law. 

The first tariff of duties levied expressly for the pur- 
pose of diminishing the importation of foreign manufac- 
tured goods, was that of 1816, which was adopted imme- 
diately after the termination of the last war with Great 
Britain. By that tariff a small increase of ad valorem 
duties was laid upon imported woollen cloths, upon iron, 

9 



98 LIPE OP SILAS WRIGHT*. 

hemp, &c., and a specific duty was directed to be levied 
on coarse cotton fabrics, imported from beyond the Cape 
of Good Hope. 

For several years before that time vast quantities of 
cheap cotton cloths were imported from that quarter ; and, 
as few if any articles produced in America found a mar- 
ket beyond the Cape of Good Hope, the purchase and 
importation of these coarse cotton cloths caused a large 
specie balance against this country. The high specific 
duty which the act required should be collected from 
these fabrics, w^as intended to destroy that branch of 
trade. It had the effect intended ; and in doing so, it 
enabled many of our cotton factories, which had grown 
up during the British war, to continue their operations 
after the peace. 

The tariff' bill of 1816 was reported by Mr. Newton, of 
Virginia, chairman of the committee on manufactures, 
and was supported by him, together with a large part of 
the southern representation, avowedly for the purpose of 
protecting American industry, and fostering American 
manufactures. 

Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Cuthbert, of Georgia, Gov. Rob- 
inson, of Louisiana, and Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Lowndes, 
(one of the ablest members of congress,) advocated the bill 
expressly on the ground o^ protection. Without their aid, 
and the powerful support of Henry Clay, it could not have 
passed, for those members representing the commercial 
interest of New England, in the front rank of whom 
stood Daniel Webster, were opposed to it.* The op- 
position of the eastern members was caused by the belief 



* AH this may be seen, as well as the speeches delivered on that occa- 
sion, by an examination of the files of Niles' Register. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 99 

that protective duties would injure the ship-owner and 
importer, and eventually destroy the ship-building and 
importing business. Times changed, and men changed 
with the times. The South became opposed to all pro- 
tective duties, and the middle, eastern, and northwestern 
states became advocates of " protection for the sake of pro- 
tection ;" and in 1824, (we believe, for we Avrite from 
memory,) a new tariff bill was passed, by which the du- 
ties on a variety of imported articles were considerably 
raised. Still the manufacturing companies, and the pro- 
ducers of iron, hemp, &c., and perhaps we may say, the 
people of the grain-growing states generally, were not 
satisfied with the protection atTorded even by the tariff 
of 1824, and therefore demanded further governmental 
aid. With a view of furthering this object, a convention 
of the friends of protection was called at Harrisburg, in 
Pennsylvania. This convention met on the 30th of Ju- 
ly, 1827, The avowed object of the meeting was to col- 
lect and concentrate facts, and to acjree on a tariff of du- 
'.ies which should be equal in its benefits and its burdens, 
IS far as equality could be attained, in all parts of the 
Union, and especially in those parts of it which demand- 
ed protection. The convention was composed of men 
of high character for talents and private and public vir- 
tues. Undoubtedly a large majority of them were sup- 
porters of the administration. Mr. Adams had declared 
oimself in favor of protection, and Mr. Clay, its great- 
est and most efficient champion, was at the head of 
Sis cabinet. Rut the members of the convention were 
not all of them supporters of Mr. Adams. Among those 
whp constituted that bodv, there were manv cfenflemen 
of high standing and character, who were openly and de- 
cidedly for Gen, Jackson The great object of the con- 



100 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGIIT- 

vention was to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting inter- 
ests of the friends of protection. It was a difficult matter 
to adjust those conflicting interests. Massachusetts, for 
instance, wished to raise the duty on imported cotton and 
woollen cloths, and at the same time desired to obtain 
her hemp and her molasses where she could buy cheap- 
est, whether the one article was grown in Russia or Ken- 
tucky, or the other was purchased in the West Indies or 
Louisiana. On the other hand, it was quite immaterial 
to Louisiana whether she purchased her cotton and wool- 
len cloths at Waltham, in Massachusetts, or at Manches- 
ter, in England, provided she could obtain them as cheap 
at one place as the other. The grower of wool in the 
state of New York insisted, that while the manufacturer 
of woollen cloth was protected from foreigii competition, 
he also should be protected from the competition of the 
grower of coarse wool in Smyrna, and the producer of the 
fine Saxon wool in Europe. The convention at Harris- 
burg, however, in a spirit of mutual compromise, agreed 
upon a tarifl" of duties which would be satisfactory to 
them, and which, in their opinion, ought to quiet the 
controversy between the conflicting interests to which 
we have alluded. 

Before the twentieth congi-ess met, it was pretty well 
ascertained that the people of the southern and planting 
states would, in a solid phalanx, oppose the re-election 
of Mr. Adams.* Hence his opponents in the grain- 
growing states rightly concluded that his defpat would 
be certain if any considerable division could be produced 
in those states ; and the conflicting interests among them 
in relation to a tariff" was looked to as the most probable 

* We do not call Delaware and Maryland southern states. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 101 

means of eflecting that division. Gen. Jackson, in a re- 
sponse to an in([uiry whether he was in favor of a tariff, 
as we have .stated in a preceding volume, declared him- 
self for a "judicious" taritl; but whether he intended by 
a judicious tarift* a tariff for protection or revenue, no 
one could tell. At the North and West it was atlirmed 
that he meant a tariff for protection ; at the South it was 
asserted, with equal confidence, that no tariff could be 
judicious unless it was one for revenue only, and there- 
fore that the general must have intended such a tariff. 
The answer of Gen. Jackson was probably drawn by 
some wily politician, for it does not accord with the 
frankness of a soldier, nor especially with the honest and 
/earless inde}>endence of Andrew Jackson. 

New York at this time was nearly unanimous in favor 
of the protective |>olicy. Mr. Wright avowed himself 
in favor of that jMilicy, although several years alterwards 
he changed his opinion, as he frankly and publicly de- 
clared. In support of protection, Mr. Wright was joined 
and sustained by all his colleagues, except Mr. Cambrel- 
ing and Mr. \'erplanck from the city of New York. The 
first struggle in the house was of course that which arose 
out of the election of speaker. John W. Taylor, from 
this state, had been the s|)eaker of the house of represen- 
tatives of the last congress ; he was a devoted friend of 
the atlminislration and a protective tariff, and was the 
administration candidate : Mr. Stevenson, of Virginia, 
who was <»pi)osed Ixtth to the administration and protec- 
tion, was the candidate in opposition. On balloting, Mr. 
Taylor received ninety-four, and Mr. Stevenson one hun- 
dred and four votes, who was thereupon declared elected. 
Mr. Wright, with seventeen of his colleagues, all of course 
Jackson men, voted for Mr. Stevenson. 

9* 



102 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

As party men they were undoubtedly excusable, if not 
justifiable, in voting for Mr. Stevenson, but some diffi- 
culties in giving this vote must have presented themselves 
to the mind of Mr. Wright. Mr. Taylor was a New 
Yorker, and the power wielded by the speaker in the na- 
tional legislature, for the time being, gives a local influ- 
ence to the state from which he comes, which one would 
suppose a citizen of New York would surrender or give 
away with great reluctance. Again, it was known that 
the great question of the session was that of the tarifi', 
and it was also known that much might be done to retard 
and embarrass, or to forward any given measure, by the 
organization of committees. Mr. Wright, and those of 
his colleagues who voted with him on the question of 
speaker, well knew that Mr. Taylor was for protection, 
(for that reason alone even the Adams men from Virginia 
refused to vote for him,) and that Mr. Stevenson was 
opposed to all protection. Mr. Wright, however, must 
have considered the choice between ]Mr. Taylor and Mr. 
Stevenson as a choice between a lesser and a greater 
evil, and that the consequences of electing Mr. Taylor, 
in all their bearings, would be more injurious to the na- 
tion than those which would be hkely to result from the 
election of Mr. Stevenson. The Virginia Adams men 
did not so reason. 

In selecting the committees, the speaker appointed 
Mr. Mallory, of Vermont, a National Republican, chair- 
man of the committee on manufactures. This he 
could not, with any regard to decency, avoid doing, 
because Mr. Mallory was conceded to be a man of re- 
spectable talents, of great candor and industry, and had 
in the preceding congress been chairman of that com- 
mittee ; but the speaker selected a majority of Jack- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 103 

son men for his colleagues. Mr. Wright was placed on 
that committee, next in order to Mr. Mallory. As Mr. 
Wright was a new member, and therefore little known 
at Washington, and probably quite personally unknown 
to Mr. Stevenson, his selection, we have no doubt, was 
made under the advisement of Mr. Van Buren. That 
sagacious politician knew men, we were going to say, 
better than any other man, and he therefore knew that 
ii(» Jackson man from the north would be likely to per- 
form no efficient a part on that important committee as 
Mr. WriL'ht. 

Tho southern ineml>ers are generally better politicians 
than the northern ; one reason for which mav be. that the 
members from the South are not changed so frequently 
as are the members from the northern and middle states. 
On all great questions in which the southern section, or 
the jilanting states, are supposed to have an interest 
adverse to that of the grain-growing states, their poli- 
cy is to divide the votes of members from the latter 
states, while they keep their own ranks unbroken. We 
do not complain of this policy on their part; in common 
courtesy we are bound to believe that they think the 
measures which they advocate are right, and that this is 
a fair means of accomjilishing their ends in a legislative 
body : at the same time it apjDcars to us that this policy 
of the j'lanting states should admonish the representatives 
from the grain-growing states to make great efforts and 
some sacrifices in order to produce unity of action. 

Mr. Wright and a majority of the committee on man- 
ufactures were not willing, without a further examination, 
to adopt the t:iri(T recommended by the Harrisburg con- 
vention. He therefore, in pursuance of the direction of 
that majority, offered to the house a resolution to authorize 



iOl LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT, 

the committee to send for persons and papers. This prop- 
osition seemed reasonable, for it was to be presumed that 
the Harrisburg convention had presented one side of the 
case only ; and on a question so vitally important, it was 
deemed proper that the committee should possess them- 
selves of the views of those who opposed as well as of 
those who advocated protection. The course proposed 
by Mr. Wright had also the sanction of many prece- 
dents in the proceedings of the British house of com- 
mons. The resolution, however, was opposed with great 
zeal by many of the friends of a protective tariff, princi- 
pally on the ground that its adoption would produce a 
great and unnecessary delay. But Mr. Wright's resolu- 
tion was adopted by a majority of the house. 

After the committee had obtained all the information 
within their power, they proceeded to deliberate upon the 
report they were to make, when it was soon ascertained 
that there was a difference of opinion among its mem- 
bers. Mr. Mallory was for adopting substantially the 
project of the Harrisburg convention ; but Mr. Wright 
was for reporting a bill materially varying from it, and 
with him a majority of the committee agreed. Mr. 
Wright was in favor of reducing the duty on imported 
woollen cloths, and for raising the duty on wool. Mr. 
Mallory contended that the effect of such a provision 
would be to render it impossible to work the woollen fac- 
tories without loss ; that in the event of their suspension, 
the domestic market for wool would be destroyed ; that, 
on the contrary, the encouragement of the manufacturing 
of woollens would increase the demand for wool, and of 
course increase its price in market ; and that therefore 
the scheme advocated by Mr. Wright would in the end 
be fatally injurious to the wool-grower himself Mr. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 105 

Wright also was in favor of increasing the duty on hemp, 
flax, iron, and molasses. Upon his plan the duty on 
molasses was to be considerably raised ; and the right of 
drawback on molasses which should be distilled into spir- 
its by the New England people, and in that form export- 
ed, was not to be permitted. As a majority of the 
committee agreed with Mr. Wright, his plan was adopted, 
and a bill drawn in accordance with it was by him re- 
ported to the house on the 31st day of January, together 
with a report setting forth the reasons upon which the 
bill was foi^^ided. 

On the 28th day of January, the following resolutions 
were offered in the assembly of New York, and were in 
that house, and by the senate, almost unanimously 
aduj)ted : 

'■ Resolved, (if the senate concur therein,) That the 
senators of this state in the congress of the United States, 
be, and they are hereby instructed, and the representa- 
tives of this state are requested, to make every proper 
exertion to effect such a revision of the tariff as will af- 
ford a sufficient protection to the growers of wool, hemp, 
and flax, and the manufacturers of iron, woollens, and every 
other article, so far as the same may be connected with 
the interests of manufactures, agriculture, and com- 
merce. 

" Resolved, (as the sense of this legislature,) That the 
provisions of the woollens bill which passed the house of 
representatives, at the last session of congress, whatever 
advantages they may have promised the manufacturer of 
woollens, did not afford adequate encouragement to the 
agriculturist and growers of wool." 

From the proximity of the time of the passage of these 
resolutions by the New York legislature with the time of 



106 LIFE OF SILAS WfilGHT. 

the delivery of his report by Mr. Wright to the house of 
representatives, and from a comparison of the report 
with the tenor of the resolutions, one is naturally in- 
clined to conclude that the introduction and substance 
of the resolutions must have been suggested by some 
person at Washington, who was well acquainted with the 
action of the committee. 

When the bill came into the house, Mr. Mallory being 
against some of its provisions, the defence of the report 
of the committee devolved on Mr. Wright. Here he had 
to encounter an array of talent rarely to be found, even 
in that house, — the sagacious and subtle John Davis and 
Isaac C. Bates, the cool and calculating John W. Taylor, 
the witty and satirical Dudley Marvin, the accomplished 
and classical Daniel D. Barnard, the able and unyielding 
Elisha Whittlesey, and that powerful and most eloquent 
extemporary parliamentary orator, Henry R. Storrs. But 
although Mr. Wright had scarcely become familiar with 
the localities of the hall of the house of representatives, 
he sustained himself in a manner so triumphantly as as- 
tonished his friends as well as his opponents.* He had, 
as was always his practice on a question which it was his 
duty to discuss, made himself well acquainted with his 
subject. He was at ease and at home in every phase 
and attitude of his case, and his speech on that occasion, 
which was very elaborate, displayed an ingenuity, skill, 
and tact as a parliamentary orator, which elicited univer- 
sal admiration. 

Subsequent to the delivery of this great and leading 
speech, in the progress of the debate, he was frequently 



* One evidence of a gfreat native mind is, that it always displays a vig- 
or and a power in proportion to the emergency which demands its action. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 107 

called on to reply to his opponents. On one of these oc- 
casions, in replying to Mr. Mallory and Mr. Barnard, he 
treated, in a manner with him unusually caustic, some 
remarks which had I'allen I'rom the gentleman last named. 
He said, — 

" But, Mr. Chairman, are we to enter upon this doc- 
trine of monopoly ? Am I to agree, that this is the only 
and correct stopping-point in the protective system ? I 
had su[)posed, that when I put the American manufac- 
turer u[)on a par with the foreigner, and not only so, but 
left against the foreigner the whole of the expense and 
charges of bringing his goods to our markets, I had 
granted a fair protection to our manufacturer, but not 
that I had thereby granted to him a monopoly. Such 
protection, and more, is furnished by the bill as reported 
by the committee. But, sir. it is not monopoly ; and 
hence denunciations against that bill. Hence, too, I 
supjwse, the arguments of the gentleman from Vermont 
(Mr. Mallory) have been heard against the proposition 
of the meml3er from Peimsylvania, (^Ir. Buchanan,) be- 
cause that proposition will not effect the desired mo- 
nopoly. 

" I must here be permitted, Mr. Chairman, to correct 
a misrepresentation of one of my own arguments used 
ujx)n a former occasion. I was represented by my col- 
league (Mr. Barnard) as having urged the protection of 
the native wool of this country, in preference to, if not 
to the exclusion of, other kinds and qualities of wool. 
Sir, I used no such arsniment. The bill makes no such 
provision ; nor has any such distinction been suggested 
by me. But the terms and language of my colleague, in 
makinfj^his representation, deserve a moment's notice. 
After he had given this turn to my argument, he niform- 



108 LIFE OF SILAS WRiiiHT. 

ed the house that I was a lawyer ; and then appealed to 
me in that character — and in a strain of eloquence, to 
which he was aided by a draft upon the poets — to inform 
him how far removed from the blood of the merino a 
sheep must be, to entitle it to protection upon my princi- 
ples. When at home, sir, I bear the appellation of a law- 
yer ; and whether my colleague intended to apply it to 
me here reproachfully, or not, I know not ; but I have 
not considered a place in that respectable profession dis- 
graceful. I have already said that my colleague misrep- 
resented my argument. He equally mistook my infor- 
mation. I will assure that honorable gentleman, that I 
have never inquired into the degrees of blood of sheep or 
men. No part of my education has led me to these in- 
quiries. No branch of the profession of the law, which I 
have studied, whatever may have been the fact with my 
honorable colleague, has furnished me with the informa- 
tion he asks. None of my ambition is drawn from con- 
siderations of blood, and it therefore never has been any 
part of my business to trace the blood of men or beasts. 
It never shall be any part of my business, sir, until that 
system of monopoly is established in this country which 
my colleague so ardently wishes, and so loudly and so 
boldly calls for from this committee. When that time 
shall arrive, his blood may rate him among the monopo- 
lists. Then too, sir, the degrees of blood, of my kindred, 
of my friends, may determine whether they are to labor 
in the factories, or to be ranked among the monopolists ; 
and then, if my honorable colleague will make this appeal 
to me, as to the degrees of blood of these relatives and 
these friends, it shall be my duty carefully and accurately 
and distinctly to answer him." ^ 

When the question was taken in the house between 



LIFE OF SILAS WUKJIIT. 109 

the bill as reported by Mr. Wright and the plan of Mr. 
Mallory. which, as before observed, was substantially 
that of the Harrisburg convention, one hundred and fif- 
teen members voted for the bill, and eighty voted for Mr. 
Mallory 's amendment. We have not before us the ayes 
and noes, but we think we are not mistaken when we 
say, that every member south of the Potomac river voted 
for Mr. Wright's bill in preference to Mr. Mallory 's 
amendment. Why did they so vote ? The bill, though 
the duties were so high on some articles as would, it was 
believed, wholly exclude their importation from abroad, 
bore with relentless and almost ruinous severity on New- 
England. The high duty on coarse Smyrna wool, which 
was used in the manufacturing of negro cloths, would, it 
was apprehended, exclude its importation, and deprive 
the woollen factories of that lucrative branch of their bu- 
siness ; the price of hemp, iron, and cordage, it was fear- 
ed, would be so enhanced as to greatly check the business 
of ship-building ; and the duty on molasses, an article for 
the consumption of which the Yankee nation have long 
been celebrated, and great quantities of which were by 
the eastern people distilled into a species of spirit called 
New England rum, and exjwrted, w'as regarded, and per- 
haps justly so, as peculiarly oppressiv^e to the eastern sec- 
tion of the Union. The South wished to defeat any bill 
for protection, and were determined in a body to vote 
against the final passage of any bill which favored the 
protective policy. If, therefore, the bill reported by the 
committee on manufactures could be made so unpalatable 
to the members from New England as to induce them to 
vote against it, their vote, together with the united south- 
ern vote, would cause its rejection. The bill reported by 
the committee was eventuallv considerablv modified, on 

10 



110 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGIHT. 

the motion of Dr. Sutherland of Pennsylvania, by the 
consent of Mr. Wright, reducing the duty on wool, and 
increasing it on manufactured woollens, and in that shape 
it passed the house, all the southern members voting 
against it, except, perhaps, two or three from the state 
of Louisiana. 

The bill, when it came into the senate, through the ef- 
forts of Mr. Webster was amended so as to render it less 
offensive to the people of New England. The house 
eventually concurred in the senate's amendments, and 
the bill became a law. This bill has been denominated 
a " bill of abominations." 

A tariff for protection of American growers, producers, 
and manufacturers is one thing, and a tariff for revenue 
is another. In the one case revenue is the object and 
protection the incident; in the other, protection is the ob- 
ject and revenue the incident. The bill in question was 
avowedly intended for protection, but as a law for pro- 
tection it was not, in our judgment, much misnamed by 
calling it a " bill of abominations," because the protec- 
tion was unequal and unjust to those sections of the coun- 
try and to some of those interests it professed to protect. 

Impost duties iox protection are now repudiated. Even 
Mr. Clay, the great champion of a tariff for the encour- 
agement of American industry, has declared that he will 
no longer sustain a tariff for protection " for the sake of 
protection." 

A tariff for revenue alone, though it may afford some 
incidental protection to the manufacturer, is in fact a tax 
paid by the consumer without regard to his capital or his 
income. Nevertheless, in this way some thirty millions 
of dollars are annually raised. If the protective system 
is to be, as in fact it is abandoned, when the gross injus- 



UFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. Ill 

tice ol* taxing the consumer without regard to his means is 
considered, and when the amount actually paid by the con- 
sumer, charged in the shape of profits, on the amount of 
duty advanced by the importer, the jobber, and the re- 
tailer, is estimated and compared with the actual amount 
which reaches the treasury, (probably not more than one 
half of the sum paid by the consumer,) it may well be 
doubted whether the incidental protection which a tariff 
for revenue affords to the producer, grower, and manu- 
facturer is not purchased too dearly, and whether it will 
not be better, as it certainly is more just and equal, to 
support the general government as the state governments 
are su[)portcd, by direct taxation. But these are spec- 
ulations foreign to the object of this work. 

No other measures of importance engaged the atten- 
tion of Mr. Wright during this session. The bill for the 
relief of the revolutionarv officers and soldiers, which 
passed in May of this year, received his vote and cordial 
support. During the recess he attended the state con- 
vention at Herkimer, as a delegate from St. Lawrence, 
and successfully supported the nomination of Martin Van 
liuren for governor and that of E. T. Throop for lieu- 
tenant-governor. 

Mr. Wright was nominated for re-election from his 
district for congress. The election was sharply contested. 
At that time antimasonry was exceedingly rife in the state, 
and the antimasons and Adams men united in his district, 
which, it will be remembered, was a double district. This 
produced a very clo.se election : Mr. Wright's colleague 
was beaten, but a small majority of votes was given to 
Mr. W., although the certificate of election was given to 
his opponent, because the word "junior" was omitted on 
Si^me of the tickets deposited for him, and because an 



ir2 LIFE OF SILAi WRIGHT. 

alleged informality liad been connnitted by the returning 
officers of one of the towns. 

On the 4th of December, 1828, Mr. Wright resumed 
his seat in congress. An attempt was made to repeal 
the tariff law passed at the last session, but the move- 
ment was resisted bv ]Mr. Wright, and failed. — a verv 
large majority voting against it. 

It affords us pleasure to be able to state, that during the 
short period that ^Ir. Wright sat as a member in this ses- 
sion, two resolutions were adopted providing for the ap- 
pointment of a committee to inquire into the condition of 
the slave-trade as it existed in the District of Columbia,, and 
the laws in relation thereto, and to consider and report 
upon the propriety and expediency of the abolition of 
slaver}' in that district, and that ^Ir. Wright voted for 
both resolutions, although they were opposed by most of 
the southern members. 

jMr. Van Buren having been elected governor, he re- 
signed his seat in the senate of the United States, and it 
became the duty of the legislature, which met in Janua- 
ry, 1829, to supply the vacancy. At a caucus to nom- 
inate a successor, Mr. Wright, though not a candidate, 
and without his knowledge, was voted for bv several of 
the members, — a fact which shows the great respect en- 
tertained for him bv his former associates. 



Lll£. or dILAS WEIGHT. 113 



CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Wright is appointed Comptroller of the State — The Importance of 
that OfBre and its hig^h Responsibilities — The Chenango and other pro- 
jected Canals — Mr. Wright's Report in lb30 — General Fund— Mr. 
Wright attends the State Couveution and successfully advocates the 
Nomination of Mr. Throop for Governor, who is elected — Mr. Wright 
elected Senator of the United States in the winter of 183.3. 

During the session of the New York legislature in the 
winter of 1829, and while ^Nlr. Wright was engaged in 
the performance of his duties as a member of congress at 
Washington, he was appointed comptroller, to supply the 
vacancy occasioned by the appointment of the former 
comptroller, William L. Marcy, to the office of judge of 
the Supreme Court. This appointment, so far as we know, 
or have reason to believe, was conferred on Mr. Wright 
without his solicitation. The multifarious and important 
duties, and the high responsibilities which a succession of 
statutes have devolved on the comptroller, are so well 
described by an able writer in the Albany Argus in one 
of the numbers of that paper published in the year 1846, 
that we can in no way so w'ell express our own views on 
the subject as by transcribing his remarks. 

■ There is at this day," says the learned correspondent 
of the Argu.s, " no officer of the state whose duties and 
powers are so diversified, so extensive, and so complicated, 
as those of the comptroller; nor is there any who is 
placed in a more commanding position for exercising a 
political influence. From a simple auditor of accounts, 
and a watch upon the treasury, he has sprung up into an 

10* 



114 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 

officer of the first eminence in the administration ; sup- 
planting, by degrees, some departments wliich were once 
in equal if not higher regai'd, as auxiUaries and advisers of 
the executive pow er. He is the one-man of the govern- 
ment. He is not simply an officer, but a bundle of offi- 
cers. There is hardly a branch of administration ot" 
which he is not a prominent member ; so prominent, in 
some cases, that the affiiirs of that branch cannot be con- 
ducted without his actual presence, although personally 
he may be a minority of those having it in charge. He 
is the chief of the finances ; the superintendent of banks ; 
and the virtual quorum of the commissioners of the canal 
fund, with all the power which such a position gives 
him in the canal board. Wliile other state departments 
have no more than maintained their original sphere and 
authority, or have suffered material diminution, particu- 
larly of influence, the office of comptroller has been a 
favorite of the legislature, and the chief object of its con- 
fidence, intrusted with high if not extraordinary -powers 
of crovernment. An examination of the statutes will 
show that eveiy year adds to its duties, until they have 
become, by continual aggregation, a complicated mass, 
beyond the power of performance by any one man. and 
almost bevond the reach of his thorough and intelligent 
supervision. 

" For twenty years after the adoption of the first con- 
stitution, the treasurer w-as the principal financial officer. 
It became obvious that he needed a check, not more for 
the prevention of frauds than for the detection of errors. 
The co-operation of two officers, and a double set of ac- 
counts, constituted a dev'ce of great wisdom for the pub- 
lic security ; and its practical working has been so perfect, 
that peculations and frauds in respect of the public funds 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 1]5 

confided to the treasury are unheard of. They are, in 
fact, impossible, without presuming that rare case of prof- 
ligacy, when two high officers of state combine, by mu- 
tual overtures of corruption, to violate their oaths and 
their coihsciences, — a result unknown in the history of our 
state government. 

" It is of little moment that the comptroller, and not 
the treasurer, is now by law the chief of the finances ; 
but if the treasurer have duties enough to occupy his 
time and capacity, it would seem that the parallel duties 
of the comptroller should of them.selves be a sufficient 
employment and trust, without the vast additional burden 
of labor and responsibility which is otherwise cast upon 
him. To f«»rm an arlequate idea of the mass of dutv he 
has in charge, it is necessary not only to survey the sum- 
mary contained in the revi<?ed code of our laws, but to 
trace out the statutes from year to year ; to review the 
reports of his office ; and to follow him and his numer- 
ous assistants in the actual discharge of their various 
labors in the financial, banking, and tax bureaux of his 
department. But it is inconsistent with the designed 
brevity of these papers to enter into the details which 
alone can convey a suitable notion of the magnitude and 
res|K)nsibility of his trust and influence. As the depart- 
ment is now organized, it is overgrown and cumbersome; 
and to perform with thorough intelligence and conscien- 
tiousness, without error or delay, all its requisite offices 
of supervision and of action, requires the sight of Argus 
with his hundred eyes, and the activity of Briareus with 
his hundred hands." 

A higher evidence of respect for Mr. Wright, and 
confidence in his ability, sagacity, and integrity, could 
not liave teen given, than was exhibited by this appoint- 



116 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

inent, — a respect and confidence which had been created 
during the short period he had been in pubhc hie, which 
was then but five years. 

Here, then, was a man, brought up in one of the coun- 
try towns of Vermont, whence he had migrated to a se- 
cluded village in a county bordering on the province of 
Canada, placed at the head of the compUcated financial 
concerns of the state of New York, a state which, we 
will venture to assert, requires more skill to conduct ju- 
diciously its moneyed and various fiscal operations than 
some of the kingdoms of Europe. But Mr. Wright 
proved himself to be fully competent to discharge those 
high and important duties. 

As a member of the canal board, it was the duty of the 
comptroller to advise and give his opinion upon the mer- 
its of all projected canals ; and as the financial officer of 
the state, it was also his duty to inform the legislature of 
the condition of the funds of the state, and its capacity 
of increasing its expenses and paying its debts. The ap- 
pUcation for new^ canals through the Genesee valley, along 
the Black river, and in the valley of the Chenango, to 
which we alluded in a previous chapter,* as having been 
made in 1827, were repeated in 1828, and again pressed 
upon the legislature in 1829. Time, instead of weaken- 
ing, strengthened the power and influence of these for- 
midable combinations. The success of each was made 
the common cause of all. The members of the legisla- 
ture coming from that part of the state w hich bordered 
on the contemplated route for the Chenango Canal, were 
considerable in numbers, and most of them democrats, 
and for that reason were supposed to have more influ- 

» See Chapter V. 



LIFE OF SILAS U SIGHT. 1 17 

ence with the dominant party in both houses of the legis- 
lature, tlian those ineinbers who represented the counties 
farther west, who were generally whigs. Probably part- 
ly, if not solely, on this account the Chenango Canal was 
made the pioneer of the trio. We do not mention the 
Chemung and Crooked Lake canals, because they were 
mere side-cuts, or arms of the grand canal, yet the appli- 
cants for these canals were generally understood to be 
combined with the other projectors. For an account 
of the proceedings in the legislature in relation to the 
Chenango Canal, we respectfully refer our readers to the 
second v(»lume of our History of Political Parties, where 
we think we have given it so fully as to render its repe- 
tition on this occasion unnecessary.* 

* At page 422, 2 Political History, we have said that previous to th« 
election of 1832, a distinguished democratic leader visited the county of 
Cheiianifo, and there jjave assurance that if the democratic state ticket 
should be well and faithfully supported in the valley of the Clienungo, 
John Tracy should bo nomiualed at the Herkimer convention for lieutenant- 
governor, and that the next legislature would pass a law providing for the 
construction of the Chenango Canal. From this statement an iuferenc* 
may have been drawn that Judge Tracy, as he was in fact nominated 
and elected lieutenant-governor, was a party to this arrangement, if suck 
arrangement was actually made. Such an inference, however, would be 
contrary to what was intended by the author. We know, and have long 
known .Mr. Tracy, not only as a man of high honor and integrity, but as 
a man possessing great delicacy of feeling, and are therefore sure he had 
no agency in the matter. Neither Judge Tracy nor any of his friend* 
have ever brought this matter to our notice, but we seize this occasion Xm 
declare what were our intentions at the time we wrote, being, upon a care- 
ful examination of it, apprehensive that thoee who are strangers to Mr. T. 
might draw an inference from it which would be unjust to the character 
for purity and delicacy which he has always, as we believe, desenedly 
maintained. J- D. H. 

Upon further inquiry, since writing the above note, the author has re- 
eeived assurances from a source perfectly reliable, the correctness of whick 



lis LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Notwithstanding the severe pressure brought on Mr, 
Wright by the union of these gi-eat interests, he held with 
unshaken firmness to the grounds taken bv him in the 
senate in 1827. and to the doctrines put forth in his report 
on the petition of David E. Evans. And in all his official 
communications to the legislature, and in his action as a 
member of the canal board, he maintained the same prin- 
ciples as are contained in that report. In the canal 
boai'd these principles were also sustained by Col. Young, 
(who had early avowed them.) and we believe by a ma- 
jority of the board. 

We have before stated, that although ]\Ir. Wright was, 
in the fall of 1828. elected a member of cong-ress, the 
certificate of election was given to his opponent, Mr. 
Fisher, in consequence of some informality in the returns 
of the returning officers. !Mr. Fisher therefore took his 
seat as a member of the twenty-first congress. Mr. 
Wright, it is true, had accepted the office of comptroller, 
and therefore could not, with propriety, retain his seat as 
a member of congi-ess : but believincr that from the result 
of the election in his district, the expressed wishes of a 
majority of the electors of the district would be defeated 
should ^Ir. Fisher continue to occupy the seat, he for- 
wai'ded a petition to the house of representatives, claim- 
ing the seat in preference to Mr. Fisher. The question 
was decided without delay in favor of granting the peti- 
tion, we believe with the approbation (;f Mr. Fisher him- 
self, and as soon as that decision was made, Mr. Wright 
resiiined. 



he does not doubt, that the selection of Judge Tracy, as the nominee for 
heuteuant-govenior, was in no respect whatever connected with the Che- 
nango Canal project. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 119 

The annual report of the comptroller for the year 
1829 was made by Mr. Marcv, while he held that 
office. The first annual report of ]Mr. Wright was 
communicated to the legislature in January, 1830. It 
was an able state paper, and on examining it one will 
be astonished at the j)eculiar talent of its author, in pre- 
senting in a clear manner the character and* amount of 
the various funds of the state, (we wish there were not 
so many of them, because we think their variety tends to 
confusion and mystery,) and in simplifying the most com- 
plicated, and rendering lucid the most abstruse financial 
matters. 

The comptroller, on this occasion, stated that the gen- 
eral fund, which originally amounted to more than four 
millions of dollars, was then reduced to 81,344.268.65, 
and was in a condition of rapid consumption. The fund 
called the general fund was mainly formed during the ad- 
ministration of George Clinton, from the avails of sales of 
the public lands in 1791.* Other moneys belonging to 
the state were also thrown into this fund, until it acquired 
the magnitude stated by Mr. Wright. In earlier, and, as 
an old man we may l^e permitted to say, happier and 
purer days, when the current expenses of the state gov- 
ernment were vastly less than when Mr. Wright made 
the ref)ort in question, the surplus of the income over 
and above the state exj)enditures, was annually invested 
and added to the original fund ; and had this course 
been continued, its income would have been sufficient 
to have jt;iid the current expenses of government, 
not only down to the present time, but for an in- 
definite period hereafter. But that course was not pur- 



• See 1 Political History, p. 57, &c. 



120 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

sued, and depredations were from year to year made on 
the capital of that fund for various purposes, until it has 
become nearly, if not quite, insolvent. The state, how- 
ever, is rich in its common-school and literary funds, 
and its immense capital vested in canals. But we hasten 
to make the remark which we intended when we com- 
menced tlMs paragraph, which has been extended to a 
length we did not anticipate. 

All the comptrollers, from the time of Samuel Jones, 
the first comptroller, seem to have felt an anxious and 
almost parental solicitude for the preservation of the gen- 
eral fund. This feeling is strongly manifested by Mr. 
Wright. And in truth there is much reason for it ; it is 
money handed down to us from our forefathers — a sort 
of legacy in which every son and daughter of the state 
has an interest. So long as the income from that fund 
was sufficient to pay the necessar}'^ expenses of the gov- 
ernment, we were free from taxes ; and for extraordinary 
expenses, the old policy was, not to permit the state to 
incur any expense, without at the same time laying a 
tax sufficient to meet it when incuiTed, or a short time 
afterwards. 

Mr. Wrisfht states the canal debt at that time at 
$7,706,013. The income arising from tolls and auc- 
tion and salt duties, was much more than sufficient to 
pay the interest on the canal debt, and the surplus, 
after the payment of the interest, was solemnly pledged 
by the constitution for the payment of the principal as it 
should from time to time become due. Mr. Wright 
showed most clearly, that the income arising from the 
oreneral fund, and from all other sources which could le- 
gaily be made available by the state, would fail of defray- 
ing the expenses of the state for the ensuing year to an 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 121 

amount of more than seventy thousand dollars. He 
therefore had the firmness to do that which is always dis- 
agreeable and unpopular, which wai«, to recommend a tax 
of one mill on the dollar on all personal and real estate, 
the avails of which should be applied to supply the defi- 
ciency in the income of the general fund, and the balance 
to be employed in reimbursing that fund the portion of 
its capital which had been abstracted from it. 

" That some measures," says the comptroller, " should 
be taken by the legislature to meet the claims upon the 
treasury without incurring a public debt for that purpose, 
the comptroller cannot doubt. And that the true inter- 
est of the state would be consulted by adopting such pro- 
visions as would preserve the remainder of the capital of 
the general fund, and as might tend to restore that fund 
to an ability to meet the now reduced ordinary expenses 
of the government, he can as little doubt." 

Again, speaking of the general fund, he says : — '' But 
now to suffer that fund to be entirely consumed, or to 
neglect to sustain, or even to invigorate or restore it, 
would seem to be a reflection upon the policy which has 
hitherto protected and preserved it, and that too by taxa- 
tion when it was necessarj'." * * * "A tax of one 
mill on the dollar on the valuation of real and personal 
estate, within the state, will, in the opinion of the comp- 
troller, not only supply the existing deficiency in the rev- 
enue, and arrest the further decline of this fund after the 
present year, but will also contribute something to its re- 
suscitation. He therefore recommends to the legislature 
the imposition of such tax." 

The legislature did not adopt the recommendation. 

The reader ouijht to have been reminded that Mr. Van 
Buren, who in November. 1828; was elected governor, 

II 



122 LII'I^ or SILAS WKIGUT. 

was, in the early part of March, 1829, appointed by Gen. 
Jackson, secretary of state of the United States, in con- 
sequence of which the executive government of the state 
of New York devolved on Mr. Throop, the lieutenant- 
governor, who continued to act as governor to the end of 
the gubernatorial term. Previous to the election in No- 
vember, 1830, a state convention was held at Herkimer, 
for the nomination of state officers. Mr. Wright attend- 
ed that convention as a delegate, from the county of Al- 
bany. Mr. Throop, in his communication to the legisla- 
ture, had sustained and advocated the same principles in 
relation to the extension of internal improvements, and 
the increase of the public debt, as had been put forth by 
Mr. Wright in his report on the petition of David E- 
Evans, and others, and in his report as comptroller, to the 
legislature. This produced some opposition to him from 
the delegates from the valley of the Chenango, and from 
the Genesee Valley. 

There was also another class of men, known by the 
name of the " workingmen's party," of whom Gen. Root 
was a favorite, and who, at a popular meeting at Albany, 
had nominated him for governor. These circumstances, 
connected with the partial feelings of some of Gen. 
Root's old democratic friends, induced a considerable 
portion of the convention to support the nomination of 
Gen. Root ; but Mr. Wright, and finally a majority of 
the convention, supported Mr. Throop, and he was nom- 
inated and elected. 

Mr. Wright, in his annual reports as comptroller, in 
1831 and 1832, took the same ground as he did in 1830, 
and repeated his recommendation of a state tax. The 
governor also, in his annual message, reiterated the rec- 
ommendation. A bill was brought into the senate in 



LIFE OF SILAS WKIGIIT. 123 

pursuance of these recommendations, but it was contend- 
ed by the friends of the construction of the projected ca- 
nals, that before the general fund could be exhausted, 
there would be a sufficient surplus revenue from the ca- 
nals, after paying all the costs of their construction, to 
defray the ordinary expenses of government, which would 
be a fair substitute for the income which could be antici- 
pated from the general fund. We recollect of hearing a 
very able and eloquent speech, delivered by the lamented 
Maynard, a senator from Oneida county, in support of 
this position, in which he, with great skill and address, 
insinuated that this project of taxation had been brought 
forward merely as a bugbear to frighten those who were 
in favor of providing for the construction of the Chenan- 
go and other projected canals.* 

The course which Mr. Wright deemed it his duty to 
jmrsue in relation to the Chenango Canal, produced some 
feeling against him on the part of his political friends who 
advocated that measure ; but such was the unshaken con- 
fidence reposed in him, that in 1832, when the term of 
his office expired, the opposition to his re-election was 
very feeble, and he was again nominated by a large 
majority of the democratic members, and chosen comp- 
troller by the legislature. Such was his quiet and peace- 
ful deportment, that his influence in matters in which his 
political friends or the public were concerned, was less 
exhibited than felt. 

While he resided in Albany, which then was, and for a 
long time before and since has been, the focus of political 
excitement, and where the contest for place, for office, 
and power, is always fierce, and naturally calls into action 



• The bill failed of becotniug a law. 



124 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

the efforts of all men who are supposea to have any in- 
fluence, his cautious and retiring habits enabled him to 
retain his natural calmness amidst the whirlwinds and 
storms and war of the political elements which raged 
around him. We then resided in Albany, and although 
we did not belong to the political party to which Mr. 
Wright was attached, we recollect that an active polit- 
ical friend of his, (Mr. Livingston, long a clerk and once 
a speaker of the assembly,) with whom we were on terms 
of personal intimacy, frequently complained to us that he 
could never induce Mr. Wright to take any part in ' the 
contests between competitors for office. This cautious 
conduct on his part did not arise, as we believe, from 
policy, or a desire to avoid responsibility, but from the 
innate kindness of his nature, and his unwillingness to 
wound the feelings of any. On questions involving prin- 
ciple, he was firm and immoveable. He in truth and 
spirit conscientiously adhered to the maxim so often re- 
peated and so little practised, " measures — not men." 

But the time had now arrived when Mr. Wright was 
to be removed from the political whirlpool at Albany. In 
November, 1832, Mr. Marcy was elected governor of the 
state of New York, (Mr. Throop having declined a re- 
election,) and Mr. Wright, early in the session of 1833, 
was chosen by the legislature as his successor in the sen- 
ate of the United States. 



LIFE OK SILAS WRIGHT. 125 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Senate of the United States — Mr. Gillel's contemplated Work — Mr. 
Wright's vote on the Force Bill and the Compromise Bill — Ho opposes 
Mr. Clay's Land Bill — Gen. Jackson's conduct in relation to the Land 
Bill — Marriage of Mr. Wriijht — Removal of the Deposites from the Bank 
of the United States — Mr. Clay's Resolution, and .Mr. Wright's Speech 
thereon — His Speech on Mr. Webster's motion to Recharter the United 
States Bank — Session of 1^34-5 — Mr. Wright elected a member of the 
Committees on Finance and Commerce — His Speech on the last day of 
the Ses.sion — Mr. Van Biiren elected Vice-President — Mr. Wright is a 
Member of Ihe Haltimore Convention at the Nomination of Van Buron 
for President — Mr. Wright's conduct in the Senate in relation to the 
Anti-slavery movementti — Bill for the Distribution of the Surplus Funds 
— Specie Circular — Mr. Wright elected Chairman of the Finance Com- 
mittee — In l!-37, re-elected to the United States Senate by the New 
York Legislature. 

On the 14th of January, 1833, Mr. Wright took his 
seat as a member of the senate of the United States. 
There is no dejiartment of the government of this coun- 
try which challenges more veneration than the United 
States senate ; nor is there, as we believe, any political 
body on earth which deserves it better. It is, from the 
manner of its creation, calculated to draw into it the 
most talented and most patriotic men in the nation. The 
senators are elected, not by the masses, but by men cho- 
sen from the masses ; they are the representatives of in- 
dependent states, and in that respect resemble diplomatic 
ageijts and ambiissadors. The duration of the othce of 
senator is longer than that of any other elective office in 
the nation. The senate has equal or nearly equal power, 

11* 



126 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 

in the passage of all laws, with the house of representa- 
tives, a much more numerous body coming directly from 
the people. It holds a veto on the power of the presi- 
dent in the distribution of all the national patronage, and 
even a comparatively small minority oi" the senate can 
overrule the executive in any treaty he may negotiate. 

Probably the familiar acquaintance which those who 
formed the constitution had with the machinery of the 
British government, in which the house of lords forms a 
part of the legislative power, induced in their minds a 
train of thought which led to the provision for the for- 
mation of our senate, as it bears some resemblance to 
that department of the English government. The senate 
also bears a remote resemblance to the diet of Germany. 
But the senate of the United States is far better calcula- 
ted to draw^ into it talent, private virtue, and individual 
patriotism, than either the one or the other of the bodies 
just mentioned. In the house of lords, as well as in the 
diet, the right of membership is hereditary. Nothing can 
be more absurd than the recognising of an hereditary right 
to legislate. You might as well contend that the art of 
watch-making, or ship-building, could descend from father 
to son, as that the ability and knowledge requisite for 
making wise and good laws, should pass from the ances- 
tor to the eldest male descendant. Hence, on entering 
the lobby of the house of lords in England, you may see 
grouped together, with power to legislate for th;)t great 
empire, men rendered decrepit and imbecile by age, dis- 
solute and reckless boys of twenty-one, men booted and 
spurred, ready for a fox-chase or a horse-race, gay lotha- 
rios, and ruined gamblers. But the senate of the United 
States presents an aspect entirely different. It is, rnd we 
trust will continue to be, composed of men of ripe years, 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 127 

whose age and experience have taught them caution, and 
admonished them to dehberate before they act, and yet 
possessing their intellectual power in its full vigor, — men 
inured to habits of business and mental labor, and who, 
from the duration of their offices and the intelligence of 
their constituency, can have little temptation to pamper 
the evanescent prejudices which for the time being may 
happen to exist, or to court the momentary applause of 
a class that always has existed, and always will exist in 
every country, who not unfrequently cry " Hosanna to- 
day, and crucify to-morrow." 

Into a body thus organized, Silas Wright entered in 
the thirty-eighth year of his age. The American senate 
was at that time composed of men as eminent as this 
or any other country ever produced. There was the 
ardent, elocpient, and chivalrous Henry Clay ; there 
were Calhoun, Webster, Benton, and White of Ten- 
nessee ; there was Rives of Virginia ; and there too 
was tlu' impetuous, but polished and courteous Pres- 
ton ; and a host of others, distinguished for their long 
experience, their skill and tact in forensic debates, and 
their learning and talents. What n)ust have been the 
anxious feelings — what the throbbings of the heart of the 
modest graduate of AFiddlebury College ! But a trulv great 
mind, though imbued with modesty, and sometimes de- 
pressed by diffidence, is always secretly conscious of its 
own powers. Air. Wright did not despond — he did not 
despair of acquiring a respectable standing even in that 
august body : like the gallant military officer, who, 
when the commanding general inquired if he could 
take a strong fort by storm, replied, " General, I will 
try," and did try, and succeeded — so also did Mr. Wright 
"try," and triumphed. 



128 LIFE OF SILAS WRItJHT. 

We shall not attempt to follow Mr. Wright minutely 
through his senatorial labors ; we are satisfied, if we were 
to attempt it, so long time has elapsed since they were 
performed, and so great was the distance we were from the 
scene of action, that we should in all likelihood do injus- 
tice to the subject of these memoirs. The journals of a 
legislative body and the public newspapers (the only 
sources from which we could hope to obtain infor- 
mation) furnish but a meager and sometimes ah in- 
correct account of the labors of the legislator and states- 
man. We feel confirmed in the propriety of this course 
from the fact, that we are well assured that Mr. Ransom 
II. Gillet, who is now, and for some time past has been 
stationed at Washington as solicitor of the United States 
treasury, is now employed, so far as his official duties 
will permit, in compiling for publication the speeches de- 
livered by Mr. Wright, and the reports and other official 
documents which emanated from him. Mr. Gillet was a 
member of congress for some time while Mr. Wright was 
in the senate, and was a citizen of St. Lawrence, and 
long and intimately acquainted with Mr. W., and highly 
esteemed by him. All who know Mr. Gillet know him 
as a man of talents, candor, and integrity. There can 
be no doubt that his book wall contain much interesting 
political information, and will be a valuable contribution 
to the literature of the country. 

We will merely remark that the first session of the 
twenty-second congress was one of deep and thrilling 
interest. 

During the preceding year the nullification doctrines 
of Mr. Calhoun had been pushed to an alarming extent 
in South Carolina, and finally elicited the celebrated 
proclamation of Gen. Jackson. This proclamation led 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 129 

to the passage of what was called the Porce Bill, for 
which Mr. Wright voted. 

Another highly important measure which came before 
the senate soon after Mr. Wright became a member was 
the compromise bill, introduced and probably devised by 
Mr. Clay. To some of the details of this bill Mr. Wright 
was opposed, but in the end he thought it his duty to vote 
for it on its final passage. Before giving his vote, how- 
ever, he is reported by Mr. Niles, in his Register, to have 
stated briefly that " his strongest objection to the bill was, 
that it endeavors to bind the action of future congresses. 
He considered this as a provision which was puerile in 
itself, and one which would never be considered as 
binding. He then viewed the circumstances under which 
congress was called upon to act on this bill, imperfect as 
it is. He knew that he should be charged with legisla- 
ting under the influence of his fears. He could not 
suifer his fears to govern his conclusions. But he would 
not disregard them. There had been a deep and settled 
discontent in a certain portion of the country against 
our legislation, and he could not bring himself to regard 
that discontent lightly. 

" Under the expression of that feeling, congress had 
done what, if they had not done, would have left the 
Union dissolved. The operation of that discontent was 
against the whole body of laws for the collection of the 
revenue ; and would, if carried on, have destroyed all 
the means of the government, and without the purse, no 
government could exist. He had, therefore, come to the 
question, deeply impressed with the conviction, that it 
was his duty to give his vote to prevent such an evil. 
He had been long of the opinion that the revenue ought 
to be reduced. He had also been long impressed with a 



130 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

sense of the inequality of the tariff system. No one had 
questioned the principle on which this bill was founded ; 
it was only in reference to the details that difference of 
opinion existed. A part of the country is deeply exci- 
ted, deeply exasperated ; by what means, it was not for 
him to inquire ; but the condition of things was such as 
to render it uncertain whether the Union can exist even 
until the month of December, unless something shall be 
done." 

The only other great measure which occupied the at- 
tention of congress, during this session, was a bill brought 
forward by Mr. Clay for the distribution of the avails of 
the sales of the public lands among the several states. 
This bill was opposed by Mr. Wright, but it passed both 
houses of congress, by large majorities in each house. 
Congress, by the constitution, became defunct on the 4th 
day of March. The bill was not sent to the president 
until within less than ten days previous to that day ; and 
Gen. Jackson retained it until the meeting of the next 
congress, and then vetoed it. 

It has been said that if Gen. Jackson had retm^ned the 
bill with his veto to the twenty-second congi-ess, both 
houses of that congi^ess would have passed it by two- 
thirds majority. We doubt the fact ; but if the allega- 
tion was true, and Gen. Jackson knew it, and on that 
account neglected and refused to return the bill to the 
twenty-second congress, he certainly evaded and virtu- 
ally violated an important article of the constitution. 

On the 11th of September, 1833, ]Mr. Wright was 
man-ied to ]Miss Clarissa iNIoody, by his old friend and 
classmate, the Rev. Henry S. Johnson, whom we have 
several times mentioned. There is something interest- 
ing in this connection, independent of the tender affection 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 131 

which existed between Mr. Wright and his bride. Miss 
Moody was the daughter of the friend of his father, the 
patron and friend of Mr. Wright. He had been an 
inmate in the house of that friend for fourteen years ; 
he came there solitary', poor, and a stranger ; he was now 
a senator of the United States ; — but this change in his 
situation did not weaken his partiality for the object 
of his affection ; it did not diminish his regard for the 
friend of his father, nor his gratitude to the man who 
had aided him in time of need, nor did it cool the ardor 
of his friendship for the companion of his boyhood and 
his youthful studies. It has been said, and no doubt truly, 
that an unkind word, or even look, never passed between 
Mr. Wright and his wife. 

By the law passed in 1816 incorporating the United 
States banking company, the national revenue was re- 
fjuired to be deposited in the Bank of the United States : 
but the secretary of the treasury was authorized to re- 
move such deposites whenever he should deem them 
unsafe in that bank. 

In the summer of 1833, Gen. Jackson, believing, as he 
alleged, that the revenue was unsafe in the keeping of the 
United States Bank, requested Mr. Duane, then secreta- 
r\' of the treasury, to direct the deposites of the national 
revenue to be removed. This the secretary declined 
doing, whereupon the president removed him, and ap- 
pointed Mr. Taney, then attorney-general, in his place, 
who, in accordance with the wishes of the president 
removed the deposites. It is no part of our business 
to justify or condemn these measures ; our duty is dis- 
charged when we state the facts as they transpired, and 
we now merely remark that these acts of the national 
executive produced much excitement throughout the 



132 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

country, and especially in the northern and middle states. 
They cc^plained that the removal of Mr. Duane, be- 
cause he declined, contrary to his own opinion, to transfer 
the funds of the nation from the Bank of the United 
States to the vaults of the banks chartered by the re- 
spective states, was an unwarrantable exercise of power, 
in violation of the law chartering the bank, and at war 
with the genius of the constitution of the United States. 
The members of the twenty-third congress therefore as- 
sembled, in December, 1833, under feelings of great ex- 
citement. Early in the session, Mr. Clay introduced the 
following resolution : 

" Resolved, That the president, in the late executive 
proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed 
upon himself an authority and power not conferred by 
the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." 

This resolution produced a debate which lasted several 
days, and nearly all the prominent members of the senate 
spoke on the subject. Mr. Wright, who was an ardent, 
and we have no doubt an honest supporter of Gen. Jack- 
son's administration, opposed the resolution in a speech 
which afforded decisive evidence of great ingenuity, and 
talents of a high order. He urged, with great plausibil- 
ity, that if the allegation made in the resolution was cor- 
rect and true, the president ought to be impeached ; that 
on the impeachment the senate would be, by the constitu- 
tion, his judges ; and that to adopt the resolution would be 
to prejudge a question which would of necessity come be- 
fore them as members of the high court of impeachment. 
He further insisted that the facts of the case did not 
support the resolution. He concluded his argumentative 
and able si>eech by the following eloquent appeal to the 
feelinss of the senators : 



I,IFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 133 

" Who, sir, is the man, the citizen of our republic, upon 
whom we are about to pronounce our high censures ? Is 
it Andrew Jackson ? Is it that Andrew Jackson, who, 
in his boyhood, was found in the blood-stained fields of 
the Revolution ? who came out from that struggle the 
last living member of his family ? who, when the sound 
to arms again called our citizens around the flag of our 
country, posted himself upon the defenceless frontiers of the 
South and West, and bared his own bosom to the toma- 
hawks and scalping-knives sharpened for the blood of un- 
protected women and children ? who turned back from 
the city of the West, the confident advance of a ruthless, 
and until then, an unsubdued enemy, and closed the sec- 
ond war against American liberty in a blaze of glory, 
which time will not extinguish ? who, when peace was 
restored to his beloved country, turned his spear into a 
pruning-hook, and retired to the Hermitage, until the 
spontaneous voice of his fellow-citizens called him forth 
to receive their highest honors, and to become the guar- 
dian of their most sacred trust ? Is this the man who is 
to be condemned without a trial ? who is not entitled 
to the privilege allowed him by the constitution of his 
count rv ? Sir, this surely should npt be so. For the 
very act which saved a city from pillage and destruction, 
and the soil of his country from the tread of an invading 
enemv, this individual was accused of a violation of the 
constitution and laws of his country. For the very act 
which entitled him to the proud appellation of ' the great- 
est captain of the age,' he was convicted and condemned 
as a criminal. But, Mr. President, he was not then de- 
nied a trial. Then he was permitted to face his accusers, 
to hear the charges preferred against him, to offer his de- 
fence, and to be present at his sentence. In gi'atitude for 

12 



134 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

these privileges of a freeman, he stayed back with his 
own arm the advancing wave of popular indignation, 
while he bowed his whitened locks to the sentence of the 
law, and paid the penalty imposed upon him for having 
saved and honored his country. 

" Grant to him, I beseech you, Mr. President— I be- 
seech the senate, grant to that old man the privilege of a 
trial now. Condemn him not unheard, and without the 
pretence of a constitutional accusation. His rivalships 
are ended. He asks no more of worldly honors. ' He 
has done the state some service.' Age has crept upon 
him now, and he approaches the grave. Let him enjoy, 
during the short remainder of his stay upon earth, the 
right secured to him by the constitution he has so often 
and so gallantly defended ; and if, indeed, he be criminal, 
let his conviction precede his sentence." 

The resolution, nevertheless, passed the senate, but 
failed of obtaining a majority in the house of representa- 
tives. 

About the same time, Mr. Webster made a motion for 
leave to introduce a bill rechartering the United States 
Bank for a limited time. Against that motion Mr. 
Wright made another able speech, in which, among other 
things, he said : — 

" I cannot, then, be mistaken when I say, that if the 
Bank of the United States would cease its efforts for, and 
its hopes of a re-existence, and would endeavor to per- 
form its duty to the country, by closing its affairs with as 
little injury as possible to any individual or public inter- 
est, the state banks would be able to extend their loans, 
confidence would be restored, and the pressure upon the 
money-market would soon cease. Apprehension, — a just 
apprehension of the hostile movements of this great institu- 



LIFE or SILAS WRIGHT. ]35 

tion, — is the most powerful cause of the present scarcity 
of money. This scarcity must exist so long as this ap- 
prehension continues. How, then, is it to be allayed ? 
would seem to be the pertinent inquiry. The honorable 
senator from Massachusetts answers us by the bill upon 
your table. Recharter the bank ; appease the monster 
by prolonging its existence, and increasing its power. I 
say, no, sir ; but act jtromptly and refuse its wish : de- 
stroy its hope of a recharter, and you destroy its induce- 
ment to be hostile to the state institutions. A different 
interest — the interest of its stockholders — to wind up its 
affairs as [profitably to themselves as possible, becomes its 
ruling object, and will direct its policy. The more pros- 
perous the country, the more plenty the money of other 
institutions, the more easily and safely can this object be 
accomplished ; and every hope of a continued existence 
being destroyed, that this will be the object of the bank 
is as certain as that its moneyed interest governs a mo- 
neyed incorporation. Mr. President, this is uncjuestion- 
ably the opinion of the country. Look, sir, at the files of 
memorials upon your table, and however widely thev 
may differ as to their views of the bank, they all hold to 
you this language, ' act speedily, and finally settle the 
question.' 

'^ But we are told, sir, that the country cannot sustain 
the winding up of the affairs of the bank. Is this so ? 
What does experience teach us upon this subject ? The 
old Bank of the United States, within four months of the 
close of its charter, was more extended in proportion to 
the amount of its capital, than the present bank is at this 
moment, and still it is almost two years to the close of its 
charter. The old bank struggled as this does for a re- 
cxistence ; the country was then alarmed ; memorials in 



136 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

favor of the bank were then, as now, piled u})on the ta- 
bles of the members of congress ; the cries of distress 
rung through these halls then as distinctly as they now 
do ; nay, more, gentlemen were then sent here from the 
commercial cities to be examined upon oath, before the 
committees of congress, to prove the existence and the 
extent of the distress ; business was then in a state of the 
utmost depression in all parts of the Union ; commerce 
was literally suspended by the restrictive measures of the 
government ; trade was dull beyond any former example ; 
property of all kinds was unusually depressed in price ; 
and the country was on the eve of a war with the most 
powerful nation in the world. Still, congress was un- 
moved, and the old bank was not rechartered. Such is 
the history of that period, and, with the final action of 
cono-ress, all knowledge of the distress ceased. Who has 
ever heard of disasters to the business of the country, 
proceeding from the winding up of the old bank ? I, sir, 
can find no trace of any such consequences. I do find 
that, in a period of about eighteen months after the expi- 
ration of the charter, the bank disposed of its obligations, 
and divided to its stockholders about eighty-eight per 
cent. u})ou their stock. 

" It is now admitted, on all hands, that the country is 
rich and prosperous in an unusual degree ; property of all 
kinds is abundant ; commerce is free, and extensive, and 
flourishing, and business of every description is healthful 
and vigorous. If then, we cannot, in this condition of 
things, sustain the closing of the affairs of this great mo- 
neyed incorporation, it is safe to assume that the country 
will never see the time when it can do it. Grant it longer 
life and deei)er root, and in vain shall we try in future to 
shake it from us. It will dictate its own terms, and com- 



LIFE or SlLAo WKIGIIT. 137 

• 

inand its own existence. Indeed, Mr. President, the 
whole tendency of the honorable senator's argument 
seemed to me to be, to prove the necessity of a i)er})etual 
banii of this descrii)tion ; and we have been repeatedly 
told, during the debate of the last three months, that this 
free, and rich, and prosperous country, cannot get on 
withtjut a great moneyed power of this description to 
regulate its affairs. The bill before the senate proposes 
to repeal the mono{)olizing provision in the existing char- 
ter, and the honorable senator tells us that this is to be 
done that congress may, within the six years over which 
this is to extend the life of the present bank, establish a 
new bank to take its place, and into which the afl'airs of 
the old may be transferred, so as to be finally closed with- 
out a shock to the country. Sir, this is not the relief I 
seek. My object is the entire discontinuance and eradi- 
cation of this or any similar institution. We are told the 
distresses of the country will not permit this now. When, 
sir, will it ever permit it better ? When will the time 
come, that this odious institution can be finally closed 
with less distress than now ? Never, while cupidity 
obeys its fixed laws ; never, sir, never ! 

" This distress, Mr. President, did not exist when we 
left our homes ; we heard not of it then ; it commenced 
with the commencement of our debates here ; and I doubt 
not it will end when our debates end, and our final action 
is known, whatever may be the result to which we shall 
arrive. It must necessarily be temporary, and it does not 
prove to my nund the necessity of a bank, but the mis- 
chiefs a bank may |)roduce. I care not whether it be or 
be not in the power of the bank to ameliorate the evils 
now complained of. That it can cause them in any 
manner, is proof that, if the disposition exist, it can cause 

12* 



138 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

them at pleasure ; and this very fact is the strongest evi- 
dence, to my mind; that no institution, with such a power, 
ought to exist in this country. 

" Sir, the subject of our present action involves two 
great first principles ; one of constitutional power, and 
one of governmental expediency. Upon neither should 
our action be governed solely by considerations of tem- 
porary derangement and distress in the money-market. 
Revulsions in trade and business, and pecuniary affairs, 
will happen. They must be temporary ; the country 
will restore itself, and money will again be plenty ; but 
the settlement of important principles must involve con- 
sequences of an enduring character, — consequences 
which will exert an influence for good or for evil, through 
all time." 

These and other great efforts of Mr. Wright before the 
close of the session, elevated him to a position which 
placed him in the first ranks of the orators in the senate. 
After delivering the speech from which we have last 
quoted, it is said Mr. Webster, who, from the coldness and 
acerbity of his temper, is not in the habit of compli- 
menting any one, and more especially his political oppo- 
nents, did, on this occasion, pronounce a high encomium 
on the ability displayed by jNIr. ^^'^right. 

The session terminated on the 30th of June, 1834, and 
immediately after his return to the state, ^Ir. Wright was 
invited by the democratic citizens of Albany, in testi- 
mony of their gratitude and respect for his services, to 
accept of a publio dinner. To this invitation he made 
the followins; characteristicallv modest replv : 

" You will believe me, gentlemen, when I say that 
from no quarter could such a mark of friendship and con- 
fidence come to me more acceptably, than from the dem- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 139 

ocratic citizens of Albany. With them for my associates 
and counsellors, and under their personal observation, has 
much the largest portion of my public duties been dis- 
charged ; and this evidence that I have been so fortunate 
as to secure their approbation, is most gratifying, as it 
permits me to hoj^e that my efforts to be faithful to the 
public have not been \^ holly unsuccessful. A proper at- 
tention to the same duties compels me to ask you, and 
those whom you represent, to excuse me from meeting 
vou and them as vou request. I\fv short stav in the city 
must be wholly devoted to public business and public 
interests of great importance, a necessary attention to 
w hich brought me here thus early, on my way to the seat 
of governftient ; and while I will not attempt to express 
my regret that I cannot enjoy the social meeting to which 
you invite me, I am consoled by the reflection that the 
loss will be mine — not that of the friends who are thus- 
partial to me." 

At the short session which commenced on the 4th of 
December. 1834, and ended on the 4th of March, 1835, 
^Ir. Wright was elected a member of two important 
committees; that is to say, the committee on finance and 
that on commerce ; and although his labors as a member 
of those committees must have been arduous, he was not 
required to make any public exhibition of his services 
until the very last day of the session, when news arrived 
which gave reason to apprehend danger of an immediate 
nipture with France. As there was a probability that 
war might break out with that nation during the recess 
of congress, the friends of the administration in the house 
of representatives added a clause to the fortification bill 
appropriating the sum of three millions of dollars to be 
expended under the direction of the president, if he should 



140 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

deem it necessary. The opposition members of the sen- 
ate, who then held a majority in that house, refused to 
concur with this amendment when it came back from the 
house, on the ground that it was unnecessarily confiding 
too much to the discretion of the president. After sev- 
eral of the senators on both sides had spoken, and there 
appeared to be a majority against the appropriation, Mr. 
Wright addressed the senate in a most powerful, and, as 
it subsequently appeared, effective manner. 

" He said he hoped the senate would not adhere to 
their disagreement. He felt himself bound to state that 
he did not know that he had heard of the constitution 
being broken down — destroyed — and the liberties of the 
country overthrown, so frequently in tiiat senate, as to 
render him callous to the real state of things. For the 
last sixteen months these fears and forebodings had been 
so strongly and often expressed on that floor, that they 
had been forcibly impressed upon him ; yet, he must say, 
that he was incapable of perceiving a particle of their 
effects. No evidence had he seen of them ; nor could 
he now partake of the alarm which some gentlemen pre- 
tended to feel, when he saw^ that the asseverations made 
at this time came from the same source. What had the 
senate now before it ? A bill from the house of repre- 
sentatives — from the immediate representatives of the 
people, proposing to provide for the defence of the coun- 
try. What had honorable senators debated ? The dan- 
ger of executive power. Were, he would ask, those 
representatives, sitting at the other end of the capitol, 
the most likely to contribute to that danger ? Was that 
the source from which senators were compelled to look 
for danger in that respect? Such an idea had never oc- 
curred to his mind. Under what circumstances did the 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 141 

members of the other body permit the appropriation ? 
He believed, and he spoke on good authority, that our 
minister at the court of France had informed this gov- 
ernment that it was problematical that the French might 
strike the fust blow against us by detaining our fleet, now 
m the Mediterranean. Congress were on the point of 
adjourning; and being in possession of such advices from 
our minister, they h;ul thought proper to act as they had 
done in regard to this appropriation, and he would in- 
quire, by what notion it was, that the senate were to be 
imi)ressed with the danger of putting this power into the 
hands of tlie executive — that our liberties were to be de- 
stroyed, and the constitution trampled upon? Ay, in 
making an appropriation for the defence and safety of the 
country from a foreign enemy ! 

" The honorable senator," (Mr. Leigh,) said Mr. Wright 
in continuation, " has exhibited to us the dangers — of 
what ? Not -cx. foreign enemy, for he would hardly dread 
the landing of a foreign Ibe at our doors — but a domestic 
enemy is to ruin us ! I remember, though it was at a 
period when I was very young, that a certain portion of 
the country held the same opinion as the honorable sen- 
ator, and, when n foreign enemy did land in it, no alarm 
was shown, but the [)eople there were alarmed at the do- 
me s lie exwiuy . IIow was the foreign enemy met? As 
the honoiable senator has most eloquently said — ' breast 
to breast ?' No ; that enemy was seen holding a Bible 
in his hand, and the American citizen putting his hand 
upon it, and swearing allegiance to the British govern- 
ment. Such is not my feeling in regard to a foreign en- 
emy. I would prepare to repulse him at the first step ; I 
would pre[iare to prevent him from touching my native 
soil, if I \\'m\ it in my power." 



142 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

The effect of this earnest appeal was, that the major- 
ity relented, and a committee of conference was appointed, 
w^ho adopted the principle of the amendment, but reduced 
the amount of the appropriation. The senate concurred in 
the amendment proposed by the committee of conference. 

We have before remarked that Mr. Wright always 
spoke for the purpose of convincing those whose duty it 
was to act. His reasoning was addressed to the mem- 
bers of the senate, not to the lobby — to those in the 
house, not to the multitude without. 

We omitted to state in its proper place that when Mr. 
Wright was elected to the senate, his friend, Mr. Van 
Buren, was vice-president of the United States, and 
then well known to be a candidate for the office of presi- 
dent, when the term of Gen. Jackson should expire. It is 
in our opinion highly probable that Mr. Van Buren, being 
well acquainted with the talents and tact of Mr. Wright, 
and knowing that he could rely with the most perfect 
confidence on his friendship and fidelity, and being sen- 
sible that he should eminently need in the senate of the 
United States, of which he was the presiding officer, pre- 
cisely such a man, and such a friend as Mr. Wright, felt 
a deep interest in his election, and no doubt exerted what 
influence he possessed at Albany to accomplish that ob- 
ject. Mr. Wright, as we have seen, did not disappoint 
his expectation ; on the contrary, he acquired a standing 
and influence in the nation which, no doubt, exceeded 
even Mr. Van Buren's anticipations. 

Of the democratic convention held at Baltimore in the 
summer of 1835, for the nomination of a successor of 
Gen. Jackson, Mr. Wright was a member, and of course 
supported the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, which was 
effected with great unanimity. His election being certain. 



LIFE OF aiLAS WRIGHT. 143 

and as there is at all times a large number ever ready to 
worship the " rising sun," and as Mr. Wright was known 
to be the confidential friend of the nominee for the pres- 
idency, the Baltimore nomination added to the power and 
influence of Mr. Wright, as well in the national legisla- 
ture as among the people. 

At the session of congress in December, 1835, he was 
again placed on the committee of finance. The land 
distribution bill was again brought forward in the senate, 
and again passed that body, though it was opposed by 
Mr. Calhuun, as well as by Mr. Benton and Mr. Wright. 

During this session a petition was presented by the soci- 
ety of Friends in the city of Philadelphia, praying congress 
to pass a law for the abolition of slavery in the District 
of Columbia, (^n the motion of Mr. Buchanan to re- 
fuse to receive the petition, it was rejected, only six mem- 
bers voting for its reception, ^Ir. Wright voting with the 
majority. Before the end of the session a bill was 
passed to "prevent the transmission through the mail of 
printed matter calculated to excite the pi'cjudices of the 
citizens of the southmi stat>:s in regard to the question 
of slax'cry." Mr. Wright gave his vote/or this bill. So 
far from perceiving any justification, we are unable to 
discover even a plausible excuse for these votes, more 
especially the last. We cannot exclude from our mind 
the suspicion that Mr. Wright was apprehensive that his 
votes on these occasions might have an important effect 
on the support that his friend would receive for president 
in the states south of the Potomac, and that the maxim 
of " measures — not men,'' which we have said generally 
controlled his politicrd actions, ceased at this mo'ment to 
influence him. We have, however, no doubt but that 
before his death he deeply regretted those votes. 



144 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Previous to the removal of the deposites the national 
debt had been extinguished, and the flourishing condition 
of the nation, and the extent of its commerce, produced 
a surplus of revenue, which remained in the United States 
treasury unexpended, to the amount of forty millions of 
dollars. This enormous sum was deposited in the banks 
selected by the secretary of the treasury ; and they thus 
became the fiscal agents of the government. They were 
hence called ''pet hanks." How was this surplus to be 
disposed of? The sjuato s opposed to the administration, 
with a part of its friends, were in favor of distributing it 
among the several states, in proportion to their represen- 
tation in congress. This scheme was opposed by Gen. 
Jackson, Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Benton, and Mr. Wright ; 
but a bill for that purpose was introduced, which, after 
being slightly modified, to avoid a constitutional ob- 
jection which was entertained by the president and 
some of his friends, it passed both houses, and became 
a law. But previous to the passage of this law, the 
great amount of government funds in the pet banks 
enabled them to loan vast sums of money (and in this 
course it is but just to say they were encouraged by 
intimations from the executive department) to all and 
every one who had any credit, and who wished to 
borrow. The profuse issues of the pet banks enabled 
all other banks to increase their issues, and by this means 
the whole country became flooded with a paper curren- 
cy. In this state of things imports w^ere increased, be- 
cause the redundancy of money enabled the merchant 
to make great and rapid sales of goods. But this was 
not all : *a rage — a perfect mania for speculation in every 
thing, and especially in real estate in villages and cities, 
and in the public lands, seized the minds of men, and the 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 145 

current carried along with it many of the nnost cautious 
and careful business men in the community. Immense 
quantities of lands belonging to the United States were 
sold to speculators, and paid for in moneys either directly 
or indirectly obtained from the pet banks. This money 
was paid to the receivers at the several land offices, and 
by the receivers deposited in the banks, when the same 
money was perhaps on the same day reloaned to the land 
s})c'culator, wh(j again, with that very money, purchased 
other lands, when it again passed through the same pro- 
cess. To check, if not to put a period to this ruinous 
system, Gen. Jackson, on the 11th day of July, 1836, 
issued his celebrated s|)ecie circular, by which he direct- 
ed the receivers of money for the sale of the public lands 
not to receive any thing in payment but gold and silver 
coin. This, together with the distribution of the surplus 
in the treasury, produced a revulsion tremendous in its 
consequences, of which we shall have occasion hereafter 
to sjieak more particularly. 

At the meeting of congress in December, 1836, it was 
found that there was a nominal majority in the senate fa- 
vorable to the administration, and Mr. Wright was elect- 
ed chairman of the finance committee, — a station which, 
though important and honorable, was at this time by no 
means enviable, since he had to encounter a furious and 
highly-talented opposition, consisting partly of his own 
professed j)olitical friends, among whom was his col- 
league, Mr. Tallmadge, who entertained financial views 
entirely adverse to those of Mr. Wright. The specie 
circular was made the subject of severe animadversion, 
:ind many of the nominal friends of the administration 
disapproved of it. A law or resolution was accordingly 
passed, which nuHified it, but General Jackson, that 

13 



146 LIFE OK SILAS WRIGHT. 

man of " the iron will," refused to carry it into effect, 
on the alleged ground that it was indefinite and uncer- 
tain. 

During the session of the New York legislature in 1837, 
Mr. Wright was again elected to the senate of the Uni- 
ted States for six years succeeding the 4th of March of 
that year. There was, it is true, some opposition to his 
re-election, growing out of the banking interest in the 
state, and the hostility of those who were anxious to 
prosecute and extend internal improvements by canals. 
He was nevertheless nominated in caucus by a large ma- 
jority, and subsequently elected. 

When the power and influence of the two great inter- 
ests we have mentioned are considered, in connection 
with the known partiality of the people of this state for 
rotation in oflice, the evidence furnished by this re-elec- 
tion of the fixed and almost unexampled confidence in 
the integrity and patriotism of Mr. Wright, and the just 
appreciation of the value of his services by the demo- 
cratic party of his own state, is as obvious as it is honor- 
able to his fame and memory. 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. ]47 



CHAPTER IX. 

Suspension of Specie Payments by the Banks — Extra Session of Con- 
gress in September, 1837 — Mr. Wright's Opinion on the Subject of the 
Suspension of the Banks and of the Independent Treasury, as expressed 
by him previous to the Extra Session of Congress — At the Extra Session 
Mr. Wright reports the Independent Treasury Bill — It passes the Sen- 
ate, but is lost in the House of Representatives — He brings in the same 
bill at the Regular Session, but it fails of passing — July 4, 1840, the 
Bill becorries a Law — Mr. Wright votes for Mr. Clay's Resolution against 
any interference with Slavery in the District of Columbia — Mr. Wright's 
Oration delivered at Canton in 1839 — His Efforts to promote Mr. Van 
Buren's Election in 1840. 

But the time was come when the paper and credit 
system, bloated and swollen to its utmost tension, could 
no longer be sustained. Its explosion produced a shock 
which was felt not only in our commercial cities, but in 
every neighborhood and hamlet in the United States. 
The suspension of specie payments by the banks, which 
occun-ed in 1837, was owing to a variety of causes, all 
operating at the same time. 

It has been already stated that during the years 1835 
and 1836 importations of goods from Europe were very 
great. Many of these goods were purchased on credit, 
and in 1837 the English merchants called loudly on their 
American customers for remittances. The balance of 
trade being at that time decidedly against this country, 
these remittances, as well as the payment for new goods, 
were required to be in specie. 

A large projiortion of the stocks issued by several of 



148 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

the states of the Union, during two or three preceding 
years, were held in England, and the interest on those 
stocks could be paid only in coin. 

Tlie rage for the purchase of public land still contin- 
ued, but the operation of the specie circular on the 
purchase of those lands produced a constant drain of 
gold and silver from the vaults of the banks. 

The distribution of the surplus revenue, instead of di- 
minishing, from the manner in which the distribution was 
made by Secretary Woodbury, increased the pressure. 
An immense capital, which formerly was active, had re- 
cently been invested in real estate, and was now dormant 
and wholly unproductive. To add to this array of diffi- 
culties and embarrassments, the Bank of England, alarmed 
at the condition of the monetary affairs in America, refused 
to discount for the American bankers in London and Liv- 
erpool, and for the houses engaged in the American trade. 

The pressure began early in the spring of 1837, and by 
the first part of May, when a great- amount of bills of ex- 
change drawn by the New York merchants u])on their 
correspondents, and on houses in which tliey believed 
they had credit in England, were returned protested, the 
distress became extreme. A delegation from the mer- 
chants in New York was sent to the i)resident, (Mr. Van 
Buren,) who requested him to rescind the specie circular, 
and to delay the collection of bonds given for duties. He 
complied with the last, but denied the first request. Im- 
mediatelv on the return of the delegation, all the banks in 
the city of New York, and within a day or two after- 
wards, all the banks in the United States, suspended spe- 
cie payments. At that moment they held in their coffers 
forty millions of dollars, which they had received in trust, 
and which belonsred to the United States. In this lam- 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 149 

entable condition of things, the president issued a proc- 
lamation summoning an extra session of congress, to meet 
on the 4th day of September of that year. 

By the condition of the charters, we believe, of all the 
banks in the state of New York, a refusal to pay in spe- 
cie their notes on demand, was declared to be a forfeit- 
ure of their charters. In the present emergency they 
applied to the legislature, then in session at Albany, pray- 
ing the passage of a law authorizing them to suspend the 
payment of their notes for a limited time. The legisla- 
ture granted their request, and on the sixteenth day of 
May enacted a law, that "every provision of law in force, 
requiring or authorizing proceedings against any bank in 
this state, with a view to forfeit its charter or wind up 
its concerns, or which requires such bank to suspend its 
operations and proceedings in consequence of a refusal to 
pay its notes or evidences of debt in specie, is hereby 
suspended for one year." 

We may well imagine, from the position held by Mr. 
Wright as a senator and as chairman of the finance com- 
mittee, and the interest he felt in the success of Mr. Van 
Buren's administration, that he must have viewed the 
present condition of things with deep and painful anxiety. 
He was then at home in Canton, on his farm, engaged in 
its cultivation, but his vigorous and ever active mind was 
employed in devising and maturing schemes for the relief 
of his country. 

While in this retirement he wrote two numbers on the 
subject of the monetary affairs of the state and nation, which 
were published some time before the extra session of 1837, 
in the St. Lawrence Republican, with a copy of which we 
have been kindly furnished by a friend. These numbers 
are valuable, not only because they furnish one of the 

13* 



150 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

finest specimens of terse, neat, and elegant composition, 
but because they show the action of the mind of Silas 
Wright on some great questions which were then novel, 
and demonstrate the truth of propositions which although 
then put forth for that particular occasion, may be again, 
and indeed are at the present moment, highly important. 
For these reasons we hope we shall be excused for pre- 
senting to our readers the substance of those articles. 

The title given by Mr. Wright to these numbers is 
" The Times," and the first number treats of " The prob- 
able continuance of the Suspension of Specie Payments 
by the Banks." The remarks of the author are es- 
pecially applicable to the suspension law of this state, 
which we have just quoted. The author thus introduces 
himself to his readers : 

" The discussion of this question involves points of 
delicacy, of which we trust we are not insensible. We 
can say with perfect truth, however, that no hostility to 
any banking institution in this state, or country, and no 
prejudice against banks generally, leads us to the discus- 
sion. 

" In our view of the matter, the answer to the ques- 
tion, when shall the banks resume specie payments, or 
take the consequences imposed by their charters for a 
failure to do so, rests with the people. It is, therefore, not 
only proper, but imperative upon the press, that the ques- 
tion shall be early discussed, and the attention of the peo- 
ple drawn to it in all its bearings." 

He goes on to say that there are three distinct interests 
involved in the question ; those interests are that of the 
banks, their customers, and the people. On the subject 
of the interest of the banks, the writer says : 

" Under this head we trust we may assume one posi- 



LIFE QF SILAS WRIGHT. 151 

tion, without the apprehension of contradiction or ques- 
tion, from any quarter whatsoever, and that position is, 
that it is the interest of every bani< to continue the sus- 
pension of specie payments so long as they can keep their 
credit so as to maJie their notes current with the commu- 
nity as money. 

" The incorporated banks have vast privileges, and 
still more important exemptions. Their privilege of issu- 
ing, by express authority of law, their paper promises to 
pay gold and silver on demand as currency, to take the 
place of gold and silver in the hands and pockets of the 
people, is nothing less than the delegation to them of one 
of the most dehcate, important, and responsible preroga- 
tives of the sovereignty of any civil government. Their 
exemption from liability to pay any description of tiieir 
debts, beyond the mere amount of stock paid in to the 
bank, is an invidious privilege to these artificial corpora- 
tions over those extended to natural persons, the citizens 
and freemen of our country, which would startle every hon- 
est mind, not familiarized, by custom and use, to the legis- 
lative preference for soulless paper existences, over the 
persons of God's creation, w ith hearts and souls and con- 
sciences, and at least some sense of moral obligation. 
The only real consideration to the community for this 
privilege of creating currency on the one hand, and ex- 
emption from liability for the most just debts on the other, 
is the single, simple, and most just obligation to pay on 
demand, at the banking-house, the gold and silver for their 
promissory currency, their bank notes, which are mere 
promises to pay gold and silver. When this obligation is 
discharged by legislation, or the voluntary action of the 
banks, the people lose wholly their slender equivalent for 
one of their most important rights, surrendered to these 



f 

1 



152 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

incorporations ; the institutions are discharged from their 
only onerous responsibility, and what is called currency 
is the mere form of a promise to pay, most tastefully exe- 
cuted, without any intention on the part of the promiser 
to pay, and with the knowledge on the part of him who 
receives the promise as money, that it will not be paid. 

" The bank that issues notes which it cannot redeem 
in specie, while the obligation to pay specie imposed by 
its charter remains unannulled by legislation, and unre- 
voked by the bank, practises a fraud upon the public, for 
which a natural person would be convicted of the crime 
of swindling, and have a cell assigned him in some one of 
the public prisons provided for the punishment of high 
crimes against the peace and safety of civil society ; but 
the bank which so issues bills, after its obligation to re- 
deem in specie has been revoked by itself, in a public 
declaration, persisted in by its practice, or annulled by 
legislation, is guilty of no fraud against the public, or in- 
dividuals. It is true, the bank promises to pay, but 
it declares before the promise, and that declaration is 
made to him who receives the promise, that it will not 
pay. He, therefore, cannot complain that the promise is 
not fulfilled, who was told, before it was given, that it 
would not be fulfilled. 

" Such is the present relation between the banks of this 
state and the people, produced by the published declara- 
tion of the banks that they would not redeem their notes 
with gold and silver, and the law of the legislature ex- 
empting them from the severe penalties imposed by their 
charters for this act of faithlessness to the community. 

" Who then can doubt the soundness of the position 
with which we set out, that it is the interest of every 
bank to continue the suspension of specie payments to the 



LIFE OF SILAS WKIGHT. 153 

latest hour al uhicli tliey can sustain their present credit 
and the present circuhition of their notes without those 
payments ?" 

Mr. Wright then proceeds to show, and does most con- 
clusively show, that the substantial interest of the legiti- 
mate customers of banks does not, although that of the 
speculator does, require the continuation of the suspen- 
sion. 

With respect to the third party who have an interest 
in the (juestion, whether the right of the banks to suspend 
payment of their notes longer than the year allowed by 
the legislature should be exteufied, which third party, it 
will be recollected, is the people, Mr. Wright says : 

*' For the last six or seven years the jieople of this 
state, thnxigh their representatives in the legislature, have 
been much too indulgent in yiMin<^ to thf- cupidity of 
individuals, and the personal and unwearied sidicilations 
of the interested,* for local bank charters ; and the mis- 
chiefs resulting from that mistaken lenity are now visit- 
ing themselves upon us with a severity which usually 
pursues any criminal laxity of vigilance in a pojmlar gov- 
ernment. Almost from the commencement of our gov- 
ernment, state and national banks have been incorpora- 
ted by legislative authority, and by the powers and privi- 
leges granted to them, have been made the practical 
trustees of the currency of the people. As we have re- 
ceded from the days of the revolution, the sutferings of 
that period, and one of the most severe among them was 



• Evpry old member of the legislature knows this to be true ; and Mr. 
Wright himself could have testified, from his own experience, many things 
in relation to the personal and unwearied solicitatious of the interested for 
local bank charters. — Editor. 



154 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

a depreciated paper currency, have become dim in the 
recollection, and in just about that proportion we hnve 
increased our banks and our paper circulation. But one 
revulsion of a general character anterior to the present 
time, has overtaken us in this career of substituting credit 
for money. That revulsion, much less general and severe 
than the present, was occasioned by the greatest of all 
national calamities, a foreign war and a barren treasury, 
and was made imperative much more by the wants of 
the national treasury, and its calls upon the banks for 
support, than from any exigencies growing out of the 
private and ordinary transactions of the banks themselves. 
In consequence of this, the banks were countenanced and 
sustained by the people in their suspension of specie pay- 
ments. Then the choice for the people to make was, be- 
tween the preservation of their soil and their liberties, assail- 
ed by a most formidable foe, and the preservation of their 
currency, impaired to support the government in the ar- 
duous struggle. 

" Now we have a revulsion entirely universal, and that 
immediately succeeding a period of prosperity such as no 
country upon the face of the earth ever before expe- 
rienced, and without any national calamity of any char- 
acter whatsoever, preceding or accompanying it, with 
which it can be in any possible way connected. It has 
proceeded wholly from overtrading, excessive specula- 
tions, and all sorts of extravagance consequent upon ex- 
cessive banking, and the cheapening of credits in every 
department of business. All the banks have suspended 
/ specie payments, and we have an inconvertible paper 
' currency depreciated, upon an average, full ten per cent, 
below the par value of money. 

" This is the injury under which the whole people now 



LIFK OF rilLAS WRIGHT. 155 

suffer ; and its necessary consequences, an instability in the 
prices of property, the too great depression in the value of 
property generally, and the perfect uncertainty whether 
that which is currency, is money to the citizen when he goes 
to his rest at night, may not be valueless paper when he 
wakes in the morning, attend this derangement of our 
currency much more closely and extensively than upon 
any former occasion, because the causes now apparent 
for this suspension by the banks are so insufficient to ex- 
cuse the course pursued. 

" What is now the choice and duty of the people ? 
They have no great national interest to balance against 
this great evil. In a national sense, all but this is well. 
Their direct interest, then, is the most speedy restoration 
of their currency. The i)Ower is w ith them. We have 
shown that no interest involved is entitled to interpose 
itself l)etween them and this vital object. This interest 
is paramount, and should command the pojjular action. 
We have urged a strict obedience to the law, and a con- 
sequent strict compliance with all the provisions of the 
extension act of the present legislature. 

" All this being done and suffered, w^e say the people 
should command an immediate restoration of specie pay- 
ments. Not a day more should the continuance of the 
suspension be suffered. Members should be sent to the 
next legislature, whose principles and o|)inions are with 
the people upon this point. With them is the power ; 
and if they will it, the continuance of the suspension of 
specie payments by the banks will end with the day 
which closes the action of the present suspension law. 
The banks would not have forfeited their charters if that 
law had not passed. Some lew institutions, perhaps, in- 
solvent in fact, might have been wound up; and the 



156 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

sooner that is done now the better, for every great inter- 
est, pubUc or private : but the solvent banks, we repeat, 
would not have incurred the forfeiture. They were 
careful so to make tlieir movement as to compel legisla- 
tive action, if legislative action were to be had, within 
the ten days allowed them by their charters to suspend, 
and the resumption of specie payments was at their op- 
tion after the final adjournment of the legislature. 

" Let, then, the banks now know that that act of sus- 
pension is the last, and let them and the next legislature 
be prepared for the expiration of that law." 

These views of Mr. Wright were copied from the St. 
Lawrence Republican into the Albany Argus and other 
papers, which had an extensive circulation ; and so con- 
scious was every reader of the truth of his statement, and 
so clear and convincing was his reasoning, that we have 
no doubt they had a preponderating effect in producing a 
determination in the minds of a majority of the people 
against extending the time for the suspension of specie 
payments by the banks. 

The second number of " The Times" treated of " The 
duties and responsibilities imposed upon the national 
government by the suspension of specie payments by the 
state hanJtS." 

As this article was written some time before the presi- 
dent recommended the independent treasury plan ; as it 
presents many propositions which are applicable to all 
times as well as to the eventful period of 1837 ; and more 
especially as it exhibits the action of the mind of Silas 
Wright on the great question, whether the financial con- 
cerns of a great commercial nation can be safely con- 
ducted without the aid of chartered banks, before that 
question had been discussed in any legislative assembly, 



LIKE OK .<ii..\s \vri<;ht. 157 

and as it shadowed forth the scheme of an independent 
treasury, whicli was ultimately established by law, we 
shall take the liberty to copy it ; in the mean time re- 
marking, that if the reader shall derive as much pleasure 
from its |>erusal as we have done, he will not regret the 
space which it occujiies. 

• The duties and resj)onsibilities of the federal govern- 
ment in this, as well as in all other respects, must be meas- 
ured bv its delegated powers, and it will therefore be 
proper for us to look at the extent of those jKJwers before 
we attejupt to prescril)e the duties or impress the respon- 
sibilities u|K>n our public servants. 

"The constitution of the United States is the charter 
of the [xjwers and privileges conferred upon the govern- 
ment of the United States ; it is the only charter of j)ow- 
ers, or |)rivileges, which has ever been granted by the 
people, or the states, to that government. To that instru- 
ment, therefore, alone we iiave to look for the powers 
after which we seek, to determine the extent of the pres- 
ent discussion. 

■' In tlu- filth clause of the eighth section of the first ar- 
ticle of the constitution of the United States, among the 
powers conferred upon the congress of the United States, 
we find the following — ' To coin money, regulate the 
value thereof, and of foreign coin. This is every word 
we find ill ihut instrument conferring upon the congress 
any power what.soever over our coin or currency. The 
power here conferred is full and exclusive to make the 
coin and declare its value, and to declare the value of 
foreign coins, and here it ends. Nothing is found relative 
to the regulation of currency, any farther than that curren- 
cy consists of coins, and not one word as to the regulation 
or equalization of our exchanges, foreign or domestic. 

14 



158 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

■' We therefore repudiate and reject, from our consid- 
eration of this topic, all the modern ideas of our political 
opponents, and perhaps of some of our political friends, 
as to the duties of the federal government in the regula- 
tion of our currency, and of the exchanges between the 
states. These are new doctrines which have grown up 
with the other imagined necessities for a national bank, 
and, indeed, constitute the essence and root of all the ar- 
guments out of which such an institution, under our sys- 
tem, ever has grown, or ever will be produced in future. 
All the reasoning, heretofore, in favor of a national bank 
has been drawn, not from the constitution, but from ex- 
pediency ; not from any grant of power, but from sup- 
posed implication to almost every important power con- 
ferred upon congress. If all the reasons ever urged be 
carefully examined, and traced to their proper source and 
bearing, they will be found to result in the mere position 
that it is necessary, or expedient, or both, that congress 
should assume upon itself the regulation of the currency 
of the states generally, and also the regulation of the ex- 
changes between them. 

"All this great field of discussion we exclude from our 
consideration of the present subject, with the declaration 
that congress has no power to do these things by the con- 
stitution ; that congress has never done them ; that con- 
gress cannot do them. The states do not assume any 
power to coin money, or regulate the value of coin, but 
they have ever assumed and exercised, and do now as- 
sume and exercise, the powder to regulate the collection 
of debts within their limits, to prescribe what shall be re- 
ceived by the creditor in payment from his debtor, as a 
consideration for the aid of the state laws in the collec- 
tion of his demand. Even at this very day some of the 



J.IFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 150 

states are passing laws declaring that all compulsory pro- 
cess for the collection of debts within their limits shall 
be stayed in all cases where the creditor refuses to re- 
ceive in payment from his debtor, at the par value, the 
irredeemable and inconvertible paper of the state banks. 
Are laws of this character, passed by the state legisla- 
tures, violations of the constitution of the United States, 
and infringements upon the powers granted to congress 
by that instrument ? — for it must not be forgotten th;it 
the constitution itself expressly reserves to the states and 
the people all powers not expressly delegated to the fed- 
eral government or prohibited by it to the states. If the 
answer be that these laws are not violations of the con- 
stitution and an infringement upon the powers granted to 
congress, then how can it be contended that congress can 
regulate the currency, when, pending the existence and 
execution of laws of this character in and by the .several 
states, any regulations which congress might establi.sh for 
a uniform currency could neither be available to the cred- 
itor, nor obligatory upon the debtor ? In a word, any 
currency established by congress could not be, within the 
practical and useful sense of that term, a currency for 
the citizens of the several states, without the permission, 
or concurrent action, of the authorities of the states. On 
the other hand, if the answer be that these laws are vio- 
lations of the constitution of the United States and an 
infringement ujxm the constitutional powers of congress, 
what can that body substitute for their action ? The an- 
swer is found in the words of the constitution itself It can 
coin money, and regulate the value thereof, and can do 
nothing further ; and the violation must consist in pre- 
venting the creditor from availing himself of the curren- 
cy which the -congress can thus constitutionally create 



160 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

and regulate, and in relieving the debtor from the pay- 
ment of his debt in that currency. 

" We do not intend, upon the present occasion, nor is 
it necessary for our purpose, to express any opinion, or 
enter into any discussion, as to the extent of the powers 
of the state legislatures over the collection of debts with- 
in their respective limits, or how far they may authorize, 
establish, and regulate, either through the instrumentality 
of banks, or otherwise, a practical currency within their 
jurisdictions and for their citizens, provided their regula- 
tions for any of these purposes do not violate the prohi- 
bitions upon the states to be found in the tenth section of 
the first article of the constitution. It is sufficient for 
us that the power of congress over the currency of its 
own creation and regulation is confined to the collection 
and disbursement of the public revenues, and that no 
branch of the federal government has the power to make 
even coin a currency binding and obligatory upon the 
citizens of the several states for any other purpose, or to 
prescribe to them a currency for any other uses. 

" If the regulation of the currency within, and between 
the states be not within the constitutional power of con- 
gress, it will scarcely be contended that the regulation of 
the exchanges between the commercial cities, a mere use 
of currency, is conferred by the power ' to coin money, 
regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin.' 

" The power of congress, then, over the currency and 
domestic exchanges of the country, is confined to the col- 
lection and disbursement of the public revenues, and 
consists in the power to prescribe in what description 
of currency those revenues shall be received and paid 
out. 

" That the only currency known to the constitution i.s 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 161 

a currency of intrinsic value, a metallic currency, a cur- 
rency of coin according to the value placed upon it by 
congress, is a fact too plain for contradiction or question. 
Congress derives no power, from that instrument, to 
make, to establish, or to regulate the value of any other 
currency, nor is any thing else recognised therein as 
money. 

" From these facts it results, as the most plain and ob- 
vious duty of congress, that he who has a demand against 
the federal government tor ' money' should be paid that 
demand in money, or, if in any other medium of exchange, 
that that medium, whatever it may be, should be equiv- 
alent to ' money,' equivalent to coin, as the value thereof 
is regulated by congress. 

" The revenues of the federal government are derived 
directly from the i)eople. They pay for the public lands 
which are purchased, and they purchase and consume 
the foreign dutiable grxxls which are imported. From 
these sources the national revenues are received into the 
national treasury, and hence arises another imperious 
dutv of everv department of the national government, 
viz : the duty of adopting such measures, in reference to 
the national finances, as can be adopted consistently with 
the constitutional powers conferred upon them, and are 
best calculated to furnish to the people a solvent, equa- 
ble, and stable currency in which to pay these dues and 
taxes. 

" The process, in the transmission of property, from 
the producer, the manufacturer, the transporter, the mer- 
chant, to the consumer, must not be overlooked, when 
we are discussing great general interests, such as now 
occupy our attention. Profit in trade is the rule of ac- 
tion and the governing principle <>f all employments, 

14* 



162 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

trades, and professions ; and the ingredients of price of 
any commodity, at every step, are the costs and charges 
to him who offers the commodity for sale. Upon these 
costs and charges his profits are estimated, and the addi- 
tion of the whole is the purchaser's limit, within which 
he cannot buy, but beyond which he must pay, in case 
any change of market has increased the value of the ar- 
ticle in the hands of • the holder. Duties to the govern- 
ment, therefore, constitute an ingredient of price in the 
demand of the retailing merchant for imported dutiable 
merchandise, and upon those duties as well as upon the 
original cost of the goods the consumer has to pay the 
ordinary mercantile profits of the importer, the jobber, 
and the retailer. If, added to the duties, there is a dis- 
count upon currency, that too must constitute a new in- 
gredient of price, upon which the same series of profits 
must be added, and all must be paid by the consumer. 
This addition to the intrinsic value of his purchase does 
not confine itself to a single ingredient of the selling 
price, but covers the whole, and is to be added, to the 
extent, upon every and all charges which shall enter into 
the seller's value. Can there, then, be a stronger, or 
more palpable duty of the government than that, so far as 
this influence of its action is concerned, the consumers 
of foreign imported merchandise, who are the great mass 
of the people of the country, should be relieved from a 
most formidable tax, in the shape of an extensive depre- 
ciation of the currency first, and of the various mercan- 
tile profits upon that ingredient next in the selling prices 
to consumers ? 

" This view of the subject is strictly applicable to the 
consumers of imported dutiable goods, because they must 
he. paid for in a medium equivalent to specie, and be- 



LIFE OK :^U..\.-i VVUUiUT. 1(53 

cause the consumer is the final payer of all costs and 
charges, including the duties to the government, and the 
losses consequent upon the depreciation of currency, if 
such loss is sustained hv any one. 

" The same duty upon the federal government is equal- 
ly imf>erative as to that portion of the puhlic revenue 
derived from the sales of lands, from another consider- 
ation. The lands are the property of the whole peo- 
ple. In the cession of them to the United States by the 
several states, tiiev were pledged to meet ' the general 
charge' upon the [ieople, and in their sale, therefore, every 
citizen has an interest in direct proportion to his liahility 
to taxation, direct or indirect, to su|>port the government, 
and pay the debts and expenses of the nation. The price 
of the lands is fixed by law at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, and every acre sold should relieve the 
tax-jiayers of the country from that amount of charge : 
but if the lands be sold for a currency depreciated at the 
rate of ten per cent., the peojile lose one-tenth of their 
property in the lands so sold, which loss they must make 
up to the national treasury by direct or indirect taxation. 
Hence the obligation upon congress to protect the cur- 
rency, so far as it may be within its constitutional power 
to do so, is not less, arising from this than the other great 
branch of the public revenue. 

" Another duty, ecpially imperative upon the govern- 
ment, and much more interesting and important to the 
people, is that of a paternal guardianship over the rights 
and interests of the governed ; and, as one of the most 
vital among those rights and interests, the protection and 
; • -rvation, by all the ways and means in its power, of 
the integrity, stability, and value of their currency. The 
duties of the government, of which we have before spo- 



164 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

ken, are partial and limited, and extend only to particular 
interests. This is general, and covers every interest of 
the citizen relating to property, whether public or private, 
local or general. The two former connect themselves 
immediately with the interests and action of the federal 
government, and the appeal, as to them, is therefore more 
appropriately made under this head. This is universal, 
and therefore addresses itself to all public servants, how- 
ever constituted, and under whatever government, state 
or national, and by whatever authority they may hold 
and exercise their trusts. We have already, so far as our 
opinions go, limited the power of the national govern- 
ment over this matter to its necessary and constitutional 
action in reference to the national finances. We are not 
now to be understood as expressing an opinion in favor 
of an extension of that limit, but as urging the duty with- 
in the defined boundary. That the power exists to re- 
quire that the currency of the national treasury shall be 
according to the value of the currency created and regu- 
lated by congress under the express grant of power con- 
tained in the constitution, no one, w^e trust, does or can 
doubt. It is the constant and continued and unvaried 
exercise of that power which we ask, and we ask noth- 
ing more. As one of the people, we think we have a 
right to ask, nay, to demand this at the hands of our pub- 
lic servants, and we do demand it. The direct benefits 
will be to save us from loss in paying our exactions 
to the government, and in the sales of our lands ; and 
the consequential benefits, in the influence this course 
on the part of congress will exert upon the legislation of 
the states, and upon those who now control our cur- 
rency through the means of the local banks, will be 
all-sufficient, at an early day, to restore our currency 



r.lFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 166 

to what it has so lately been and what it ought to 

be. 

" We know that it has been asked by some, if there 
should be established for the government a better cur- 
rency than is ;illowed to the people? We answer, No! 
the thing is imiwjssible. The currency of the govern- 
ment is the currency of the j)eopIe, as the government 
itself is the government of the i)eople. If the govern- 
ments, state and national, recjuire a sound currency for 
themselves, and provide for and secure it by their legis- 
lation, that same legislation will provide for and secure a 
sound currency for the people ; the currency provided 
for, authorized, and sustained by law for the governments 
will be the currency of the ))eople ; but when either or 
both governnients shall legislate for and permit, for their 
uses, an unsound and depreciated and inconvertible cur- 
rency, the currency of the |>eople must also be unsound, 
depreciated, and inconvertible. The only control the 
people can exercise over the matter is through their re- 
siH^ctive legislatures, state and national; and if that con- 
trol be exerci.sed in favor of an unsound currency, the 
government and the people must have an unsound cur- 
rency, because it is made unsound, or continued so, by 
the act of the jieople, through their servants ; while, on 
the contrary, if that control be exercised in favor of a 
sound cuiTency, l)<)th must and will have a sound cur- 
rency, because both the governments and the people 
will it. 

" Among the responsibilities of the federal government, 
that of keeping safely the moneys collected from the peo- 
ple, so that they may be ready, at the calls of the public 
treasury, without subtraction or depreciation, stands 
prominent. At ])eriods, when a proper relation exists 



IG6 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

between the revenues collected and the wants of the gov- 
ernment for expenditures, this responsibility may be dis- 
charged without difficulty or danger ; but, when overtra- 
ding in foreign merchandise, or over-speculation in the 
})ublic lands, swells the sources of revenue greatly beyond 
the wants of the government, it becomes one of great 
difficulty, delicacy, and hazard. The evils which destroy 
the equilibrium tend necessarily to impair the safety of 
the ordinary and natural depositories, the banks of the 
states, and offer temptations to unfaithfulness to individ- 
ual guardians, should such be selected. 

" Another responsibility resting upon the national gov- 
ernment is that of guarding and preserving, even beyond 
the reach of just suspicion at home or abroad, the credit 
of the United States, as a body politic. This high trust 
can be but very imperfectly discharged, and cannot be 
discharged at all to the benefit of the people, for any length 
of time, with a disordered and depi'eciated currency sanc- 
tioned by its authority. 

" Our limits will not permit us to go farther in the enu- 
meration of the duties and responsibilities imposed upon 
the national government, by the present state of our mon- 
etary affairs, inasmuch as it remains for us to consider 
what can be done to rem^edy existing evils, and to restore 
a better condition of things. We shall be best able to 
make ourselves intelligible to our readers, in this part of 
the inquiry, by first reviewing, very concisely, what has 
been done upon all former occasions of trouble and diffi- 
culty. 

" The constitution of the United States was finally rat- 
ified by the states, and took effect as a system of govern- 
ment on the 4th of March, 1789. At that time the 
country was severely oppressed from heavy debts, both 



LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 167 

national and state, an entire derangement of the curren- 
cy, and a gi'eat depression of public credit, all conse(iuent 
upon the war of the revolution. In 1791 a national bank 
was resorted to as a means of extrication from all these 
evils. A charter for a national bank was granted for a 
term of twenty years, and that institution became the de- 
pository of the public moneys and the fiscal agent of the 
treasury during its existence. The charter expired on 
the 1th of March, 1811. Twenty years' experience of 
tiie benefits and evils of such an institution had been 
given to the people of the United States, and during the 
whole time the magnitude of the jaiblic debt, the difiicul- 
tics with the most |)owerful of the nations of Europe, the 
want of capital at home to improve the resources of the 
country, and the almost universal i)ecuniary embarrass- 
ment resting both up(jn the governments, state and na- 
tional, and upon the individual citizens, gave the benefits 
the fullest possible opi)ortunity for favorable apjireciation. 
Still the evils prejionderated, in the judgment of the peo- 
ple, and an extension of the charter was refused, and that 
too when it was most palpable that we were on the eve 
of a war with Great Britain. From this time until 181G, 
the secretary of the treasury was the keeper, under the 
direction of the president, of the national treasure, and the 
state banks were made by him the fiscal agents of the public 
treasury. During this jieriod we passed through our sec- 
ond British war, with a triumijh to our national valor and 
national honor of which every American is justly proud. 
An extensive derangement of our currency and a large 
atldition to our national debt, were among the conse- 
quences of this foreign war, and these consequences 
drew after them a very considerable depression of na- 
tional credit. 



168 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

" Again a national bank was pressed, as the only effec- 
tual panacea for these evils ; and in 1816 another charter 
for such an institution, to continue for the term of twen- 
ty years, was obtained from congress. This institution 
also became, at once, the depository of the public moneys 
and the fiscal agent of the federal treasury. Again the 
American people were favored with twenty years' expe- 
rience of the good and evil of a national bank, and again 
their verdict pronounced the evil immensely to prepon- 
derate, and commanded their representatives to put an 
end to the institution. This second charter expired on 
the 4th of March, 1836, and since that time the state 
banks have again been made the depositories of the pub- 
lic treasure and the fiscal agents of the public treasury. 
A selected number of these institutions first received this 
high trust from executive order and regulation only, but 
a subsequent law of congress sanctioned and adopted the 
system, and prescribed rules and limitations for it. It is 
important for us to notice but a single provision of this law, 
and that provision is, that no bank note shall be received 
in payment of dues to the government, or paid out in dis- 
charge of debts due from the government, which is not 
convertible into gold and silver coin at the will and pleas- 
ure of the holder. 

" Under this law, with this provision incorporated in it, 
all the existing deposite banks accepted their high trust 
to the government and people of the country, and re- 
ceived some forty millions of the public treasure ; and 
yet, strange to tell, before a single twelvemonth had 
passed away, they all refuse to pay gold and silver for 
their notes. Nay, more and farther and worse, they even 
refuse to pay to the government any thing but their own 
irredeemable bank notes, those notes which the law above 



LIFK OK rilKAa VVIUUUT. 1U9 

mentioned prohibits the othcers ol" tlie government from 
either receiving or paying out, lor the milhons intrusted 
to their sale-keeping. Still farther, the drafts of the 
treasurer of the L'nited States, drawn upon a depos- 
ite bank for a mere trust fund, Ixlonging to individual 
citizens, which fund was by the government injported 
from abroad in gold and silver, and in gold and silver 
placed in that bank for safe-keeping, have l)een dishonor- 
ed and returned without payment, l)ecause the holder of 
tiie drafts wcnild not receive the irredeemable bills of that 
bank in satisfaction. 

" The.se violations of law and contract by the deposile 
banks have comj»elled an extraordinary convtK-ation of 
congress, that measures may be adopted to relieve the 
treasury from the embarrassments resting uiK)n it Irom 
the provisions of the <leposite law, and the failure of the 
hajiks to comjily with their obligations. 

•'What ought congress to do? is the great question. 
Can a national bank be resorted to, even if it could rem- 
edy the evils we suffer ? Twice such an institution has 
been tried, and twice have the peo|»le pronounced their 
verdict that it shall not have existence within our con- 
federacy ; that its j)owers to produce expansions and 
contractions in the currency, and overtradings, sjH^cula- 
tions, panics, and pressures, arc much superior to its 
powers to regulate, restrain, or sustain our circulating 
medium ; that the f)olitical dangers and evils arising from 
it to the purity and stability of our free institutions, far 
outweigh any |)romise of benefits ; that the constitution of 
the United States has not conferred upon congress any 
power to charter such an institution, and that no such 
charter shall emanate from the hands of their representa- 
tives. The voice in which this last verdict w;us so dis- 

15 



170 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

tinctly and clearly pronounced, yet sounds in our ears, 
and warns us against repeating this doubly-condemned 
experiment. 

" Shall the state banks be further continued as public 
depositories and fiscal agents of the treasury ? Shall 
millions more be intrusted to these institutions which re- 
fuse to respond for what they have received for safe- 
keeping, except by their own irredeemable and faithless 
promises to pay ? Shall congress recede from the ground 
it has taken, that the debts of the nation shall be paid in 
a currency equivalent to specie, and convertible into spe- 
cie at .the will of the holder ? Shall it legalize as curren- 
cy, and establish as the circulating medium of the national 
treasury, the irredeemable notes of the state banks, and 
import gold and silver from other countries to be ex- 
changed for such a miserable representative of money ? 
We have, as yet, heard no such claim preferred in favor 
of these banks, from any quarter, and we will not stop to 
argue a position which seems to be so plain, as that 
these banks have forfeited all further confidence from 
the treasury, and cannot be relied upon as its fiscal 
agents. 

" What, then, can congress do ? We answer, try the 
yet untried expedient. Produce a perfect and entire sep- 
aration between the finances of the nation and all the 
banks of issue, or discount, however or by whatever au- 
thority existing ; between the national treasury and those 
artificial creations of legislation upon which we have 
hitherto so unfortunately attempted to depend. We have 
tried the faith of these soulless existences, in all their 
forms of being, and that fiiith has always failed us in the 
hour of utmost need. Now let us trv the faith of nat- 
ural persons, of moral, accountable agents, of freemen 



MFE OF SILAS WKIGHT. 171 

Let congress trust the safe-keeping of the public treasure 
with citizens, as such, and not as bank corporators ; with 
men responsible to itself, and not to a moneyed institu- 
tion. Let collections into the national treasury be col- 
lections of money, or its equivalent, not of irredeemable 
paper ; and when the government owes a citizen, let 
him, for that debt, be able to obtain money, or its equiva- 
lent, and not inconvertible bank notes. 

"We are told, and no doubt truly, that the connection 
between the public treasury and the banks has aided to 
produce the excesses we now so deeply deplore. Let not 
the treasury again contrii)ute its agency to such severe 
inflictions upon the jteople. When duties are to l)e paid 
to the government, let them be paid in fact, not practical- 
ly credited by a system of deposite in banks which ena- 
bles the nierchant to withdraw with one han<l what he 
j)laces in the bank with the other. If lands are sold, let 
the money paid for them be retained by the government 
to which it belongs, until its wants shall call for its use. 
Ex[)Iod(' the mi.schievous doctrine, now so generally pro- 
mulgated, that the merchant, or the sj)ecuIator, has a 
right to the u.se of every dollar of money in the national 
treasury ; and, when overtrading shall unduly increase 
the revenue from customs, or mad speculations swell the 
amounts received for sales of lands, let the accumulations 
of cash capital in the treasury check the.se excesses, be- 
fore their bitter fruits are realized, as now, in the destruc- 
tion of credit, the derangpment and depreciation of the 
currency, the depression of property, and the prostration 
of business generally." 

In pursuance of the proclamation of the president, con- 
gress convened on the 4th of September. The first mes- 
sage of Mr. Van Buren to congress must be in the recol- 



172 LIFE OF SIT.AS WRIGHT. 

lection of every reader. He recommended an entire 
dissolution of all connection between the government and 
the banks. There was then an existing law forbidding 
the collectors of the national revenue to receive any 
thing in payment but gold and silver coin, or the bills of 
banks convertible at the will of the holder into specie, at 
the place where they were offered in payment to the offi- 
cers of the government. As at that time no banks in the 
United States paid specie for their notes, no collections 
could be made. The president, therefore, recommended 
the issue of treasury notes for the payment of the dues 
from the government, and which should be receivable for 
debts due the United States treasury. Mr. Wright, as 
chairman of the finance committee, on the 14th of Sep- 
tember reported to the senate a bill for establishing an 
independent treasury. As the bill was drawn, the treas- 
urer was not forbidden to receive the bills of specie-pay- 
ing banks. Mr. Calhoun declared he could not support 
this bill unless a clause was inserted in it, prohibiting the 
officers of the government from receiving any thing in 
payment of the revenue except coin, and moved an 
amendment to that effect, which was afterwards known 
as the " specie clause." The amendment was accepted 
by Mr. Wright. In this form the bill passed the senate, 
though it encountered a furious opposition from the whigs, 
and was also opposed by Mr. Tallmadge and Mr. Rives, 
two of the democratic members. The vote on the final 
passage of the bill was 26 to 20. In the house of repre- 
sentatives it was laid on the table, so that it failed of be- 
coming a law during that session. 

Mr. Wright also reported a bill authorizing the issue 
of treasury notes to the amount of ten millions of dollars, 
which, after a vigorous opposition in both houses, (the 



MFK or SILAa VVKIUHT. 173 

whigs preferring a loan to the issue of treasury notes,) 
was passed into a law. 

At the regular session in December, 1837, Mr. Wright 
again introduced the inde{)endent treasury bill. Long 
and able discussions followed, in which he took a distin- 
guished part. The ground taken by him was, that it was 
then demonstrated that the state banks could not be re- 
lied on as the fiscal agents of the national government, 
because, among other things, that government had no 
constitutional power of controlling them, and therefore 
the true (juestion was, between the establishment of a 
treasury by the government, or chartering a national 
bank. He and many of those with whom he acted be- 
lieved the latter measure unconstitutional ; and of course, 
in their judgment, the passage of the bill he hjid intro- 
duced was the only remedy to which they could have re- 
course. He insisted there was no middle ground between 
these measures. 

The specie clause in the bill before the senate was 
stricken out by a strong vote before it passed that body ; 
but notwithstanding this alteration, like its predecessor, it 
was laid on the table in the house of representatives, 
where it remained till the session terminated. 

The same bill, without the specie clause, was brought 
forward at the next session, (1838-!),) and ag:iin failed of 
becoming a law. But the elections for members of the 
twenty-sixth congress resulted in the choice of a majority 
in favor of the independent treasury, and at the latter 
part of that session, a law for the establishment of an in- 
dependent treasury, without the specie clause, passed both 
houses of congress, and was a[)proved by the president 
on \\\c fourth day of Juh/, 1840. 

During the winter of 1838, the subject of slavery was 

15* 



174 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 

agitated, and "on the 10th day of Jan. 1838," says Mr. 
Jenkins, in his biography of Silas Wright, " Mr. Wright 
voted with Mr. Clay and others, in favor of a resolution 
declaring that any interference on the part oi the citi- 
zens of other states with the District [of Columbia] en- 
dangered the rights of the citizens of such district, viola- 
ted the implied faith in which the cession was made by 
Maryland and Virginia, and would disturb and endanger 
the Union." 

We think this resolution was wrong in principle ; 
but whether wrong or right, the fact that Mr. Clay voted 
for it ought not to affect the merits of Mr. Wright's vote. 
Probably Mr. Jenkins did not so intend, and we call at- 
tention to it for the purpose of remarking, that it affords 
no justification or excuse, as some persons affect to be- 
lieve, for a statesman to vote for a wrong measure, by 
showing that an eminent political opponent voted for the 
same measure. 

Mr. Rives, of Virginia, probably encouraged by the 
success of this motion, offered a similar resolution in re- 
gard to slavery in territories other than the District of 
Columbia, and which further declared that the people of 
those territories had the exclusive right to determine 
themselves on the question of slavery ; but Mr. Wright 
voted against this resolution. 

On his return from congress in March, 1839, enter- 
tainments were tendered to Mr. Wright at Harrisburs 
where the Pennsylvania legislature was then in session, 
and at the city of New York. These public testimonials 
of respect he declined, and hastened home, anxious to 
quit the excitements and the bustle of political life for 
the quiet enjoyment of the society of his family, and. his 
old neighbors and friends. He spent the summer during 



LIFE OF SlLAd URU;ilT. 175 

the recess of congress at Cuntoii, anil although lie had 
declined the honors and festivities ollered him at the caj>- 
ital of the great state of Pennsylvania, and by the great- 
est city on the continent of North America, situated in 
his own state, yet when his plain and honest neighbors at 
Canton requested him to deliver an address to them on 
the FoLRTii DAY i)F Ji'i.Y, this great statesman, to whom 
senators listened with profound resi)ect. <lid not refuse to 
complv with the reipiest of his friends and neighbors — 
the citizens of a country village. At that time, besides his 
domestic avocations, great and important public meas- 
ures must have occupied every moment he c^mld devote 
to serious thinking. His compliance therefore must have 
subjected him to nmch inconvenience ; but Silas Wright 
was not the man to disregani the wishes of old friends. 
We have l)een so fortunate as to obtain a copy of this 
address.* We confess we were agreeably disap[M>inted 



• The followiiij; is a copy of .Mr. Wright'ii reply to Judge JeiiiiMU, the 
Moil. J. Ijenho Kiimell, uiid oUiem, who rrqiiCHted a copy of' hb address 
for publicutioii. It ohowx the extreme reluctance with which he consent- 
ed to the publication, na well ait the delivery of an oration on that occaMion. 

Canton, 13th July, 1839. 

(Jenti.kmkn : — Your iioti- of the Iflth instant, rr()iir»tinir a copy of the 
addresti delivered by ine on the 4lh. in conformity with your ret|ue«t, for 
the ptiriNwe of publication, wa.t placed in my handi* this inoniini;. I'he 
reluctance which I exprewied ai< to a compliance with your reqiieHt to de- 
liver the addresH wu» nnfeigni-d, but wan overcome by your prcHeiitution 
of the cluiniH which my fi-lJow-ctiZeiiH of our county, and e.ipecially ol 
our town, could, of ri);ht, make u|>nn me in a mutter of this mrt. 

Your present n-quest, beiiiij preferred on the name (rroimdH, must meet 
the xaine compliance from me, n cnmpliance, [ bei; you to believe, (jen- 
lieiiien, however mucii it may impi-uch my appreciation of my obligations 
to the best of friend^i, and tlio most faithful of couiitituouls, even more re- 
luctantly yielded than wa.i that to your first call. 



176 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

in reading it ; we thought that the subjects to which he 
would be confined in addressing a mixed audience, com- 
posed of persons of all sects in religion and all parties in 
politics, would prevent even Silas Wright from producing 
any thing which would not, in some respects, be tiresome. 
But though the truisms in the address under considera- 
tion are old, they are presented in such a new and agree- 
able shape that they cannot fail to gratify a reader, not- 
withstanding his taste may be somewhat fastidious. For 
ourselves, although we recognised some of the orator's 
positions as of long standing, we were as delighted on 
encountering them here, as one is to meet with old friends. 

Mr. Wright, after an eloquent allusion to the great 
events intended to be celebrated by the exercises and fes- 
tivities of the day, says : 

" It is believed to be a common and prevalent error of 
our people of the present day, to pay too little regard to 
the civil events of the American Revolution, as contra- 
distinguished from the military ; to consider that revolu- 
tion as perfected at the termination of hostilities and the 
treaty of peace ; to rejoice with a just joy, at the success 
of our arms in the great and fearful contest, and to con- 
sider our present constitutional forms of government, state 
and national, as having followed of course, and as neces- 
sary consequences, from our military success. If this 
belief be well founded, the error is of evil tendency, and 
its correction is essential to a proper understanding of 

A copy of the address accompanies this reply, and is submitted to the 
disposition of the committee. 

With the highest respect, your felbw-citizen, 

SILAS WRIGHT, Jr. 
Hon. MiNET Jenison, and others, 

Committee of Arrangements, &c. 



LIFE OF BILA8 WRIGHT. 177 

our national constituuon, and of the rights and duties of 
the citizens under it. " 

He then juuceeds to sketch a lively picture of the civil 
condition of the old thirteen colonies, at the commence- 
ment of the Ilevolutionary war, and their political posi- 
tion as states at the close of it. He next gives a succinct 
but clear view of the articles of the old confederation, 
and briefly points out their fatal defects. He then details 
rapidly the history of the formation and action of the 
constitutional ctjnvention in 1788-9, and exhibits in bold 
relief the dilHculties which the members of that assembly 
had to encounter, and the sacrifices that each state was 
comjielled to make to the interests or prejudices of other 
states or .sections of the country. These were called 
the " compromises" of the constitution. " That our con- 
stitution," says Mr. Wright, " tnight have been more |)er- 
fect, is (|uite po.ssible. That it was not vast/i/ mure im- 
perfect, is matter of just wonder and astonishment, as it 
ought to be of the most profound thankfulness to every 
American heart " The great points for discussion in that 
august assemijly. .Mi'. Wright happily sums up as f(jllows : 

" 1. The establishment of a national government, com- 
petent to manage the afl'airs of the Union by its own 
powers. 

" '2. The division of the powers conferred upon that 
government into the legislative, executive, and judicial 
branches. 

•' 3. The mode of constituting the legislative branch, 
whether in «>ne or two houses, the maimer in which the 
members of each should l)e elected, or apjiointed, and 
their tenns of service. 

" 4. The formation of the executive branch, whether 
of one or more persons, the source from which it 



178 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 

should derive its election, or appointment, and its official 
term. 

" 5. The organization of the judicial branch, its official 
tenure, its jurisdiction and powers, and the manner of 
carrying its decisions into effect. 

" 6. The enumeration and specification of the powers 
which must be granted by the states, and the people, to 
a common government, to enable it to accomplish the 
objects proposed. 

" 7. The ratio of representation of the people and the 
states in either or both houses of the legislative branch 
of that common government, and how far popular, and 
how far state representation should constitute both, or 
either. 

"8. The basis upon which popular representation 
should be established, throughout all the states, for federal 
purposes." 

After speaking of the sacrifices of political power by 
the large states to the smaller ones, in giving the latter 
an equal representation in one branch of the national le- 
gislature, which ^Ir. Wright regards as one of the com- 
promises, he says : 

" We, fellow-citizens, are inhabitants of the most pop- 
ulous state in the Union. Do we regret that the com- 
promises are made ? That so much of our just relative 
strength in the national government was surrendered to 
secure so great an object ? Would we now consent to 
bring the least possible danger upon this glorious system 
of government by any effort to regain what was thus 
generously yielded ? Would we even consent to agitate 
the subject to the serious disquiet of the Union, or of our 
sister states interested ? At the time of the adoption of 
the constitution of the United States, Xew York was 



LIFE or SILAS WKIUUT. 179 

among the class of the most populous states, but several 
were more populous. Under the benign influence of that 
constitution it is that she has reached her present envia- 
ble height in population, wealth, and prosperity, and cer- 
tainly we shall not be the portion of her population who 
will set the example of placing in jeopardy an invaluable 
good by the uncertain and ungracious pursuit of an ad- 
vantage unimportant in the comparison. To propose 
amendments to the constitution in a constitutional man- 
ner, and urge their adoption by the fair exercise of truth 
and reason, is a right derived from the instrument itself: 
but beyond that, the compromises through which that 
charter of our liberties and rights was obtained should 
be as sacredly regarded as the charter itself" 

The slave representation and the slave question Mr. 
Wright regards as one of the compromises of the con- 
stitution, and he protests against any interference what- 
ever with the people of those states. He implores 
his audience not to tolerate any prejudice against the 
South in consequence of their exercising their consti- 
tutional rights in holding slaves. This admirable ad- 
dress closes with the following elegant and impressive 
peroration : 

'* If there be those among us, who, misled bv a mista- 
ken sympathy, or by sudden excitement, upon anv sub- 
ject, are forgetting their obligations to the whole countrv, 
to the constitution, and the Union, let us use ever)' effort 
of persuasion and example to awaken them to a sense of 
their dangerous error. If those, who, for the sake of pri- 
vate interest, personal ambition, or momentari- political 
success, are willing to experiment upon the public pas- 
sions, to treat lightly their constitutional obligations, to 
foment sectional jealousies, and raise up geographical 



180 MIE OP SILAS WRIGHT, 

distinctions within the Union, let the absence of our 
countenance and support convince such, that the per- 
sonal gratification, or public services of any living man, 
are not objects of sufficient magnitude to be gained at 
the expense of the harmony of the country, the peace of 
the Union, or a single letter in the list of our constitu- 
tional duties. If among us there be any, which Heaven 
forbid, who are prepared, for any earthly object, to dis- 
member our confederacy, and destroy that constitution 
which binds us together, let the fate of an Arnold be 
theirs, and let the detestation and scorn of every Ameri- 
can be their constant companions, until, like him, they 
shall abandon a country whose rich blessings they are no 
longer worthy to enjoy. 

" Towards foreigners, and foreign nations, let our con- 
duct be governed by the strict rule of right. Let our 
every duty, arising under the laws of nations, or the obli- 
gations of treaties, be promptly and punctiliously per- 
formed ; and then, neither claiming nor attempting to 
exercise a right to interfere in their internal affairs, or to 
control their civil and political institutions, let us give 
them, at all times and under all circumstances, to under- 
stand that we neither ask, nor will receive, any such 
interference from them. 

" Thus demeaning ourselves as citizens of the repub- 
lic, and of the great commonwealth of nations, if the 
time must come, when our proud temple of freedom 
must fall, crushed by external violence, or rent asunder 
by internal dissensions, let the freemen of New York sus- 
tain, erect and unbroken, that pillar of the structure com- 
mitted to their keeping, that, when every other may be 
prostrate, and scattered over the face of our fair land, a 
mass of shapeless ruins, it may stand a monument of 



LIFK iiK SILAS WKKJIir. 181 

their fidelity to the jH-MlL-ct t-tlifice, aiul <»r their unyield- 
ing attachment to constitutional liberty. " 

Mr. V'an Huren had been unanimously nominated for 
re-election at the election in 1840. The canvass was 
warm and animated, but resulted in the election t)f Gen. 
Harrison by a large majority. During the recess of con- 
gress previous to the election, Mr. Wright devoted much 
of his time and great talents in delivering iiddresses to 
|)opular as.sen»blies, in favor of the re-election of Mr. Van 
Duren. His j)oliticjd zeal on this occasion was rendered 
more ardent by his pride as a \ew Yorker, and private 
and |)ersonal frierulshij) for Mr. Nan Huren. 

We have now arrived at a |X'ri«»«l when the p<ilitical 
history, which was published in 181*2, and to which we 
have frequently referred, closes. In (»ur next chapter we 
therefore shall resume the jK»litical history of the state, 
and continue it down to the c\nsQ of Atr. Wright's ad- 
ministration as governor, at the end ()f the year 1846. 
Mr. Wright's public life, es|K'ciaIly the last four years of 
it, is so intimately blended with the history of the jM^liti- 
cal parties which existed during that j)eri(Kl, that we can- 
not, as we conceive, write the history of the one without 
the other. 

IG 



182 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 



CHAPTER X. 

Continuation of the Political History of the State of New York — Cata- 
logue of the Senators — Whig and Democratic Caucuses for nomination 
of Speaker — P. B. Porter, Jr. chosen Speaker — Governor's Message — 
General Root's Resolution to amend the Constitution of the United 
States — Virginia Controversy — The Glentworth Fraud — Removal of 
Robert H. Morris from the Office of Recorder of 'New York— Freder- 
ick A. Tallmadge appointed his successor — Proceedings on the Bill to 
Abolish Capital Punishment — Bill for the appointment of County Su- 
perintendents of Common Schools — John C. Spencer — His talents and 
labors — E. S. Randall — Francis D wight— General Harrison's Inaugu- 
ration — His Cabinet — His Death — Mr. Tyler's Cabinet— John C.Spen- 
cer Secretary of War — Trial and Acquittal of Alexander McLeod — 
William Kent appointed Circuit Judge of the First Circuit — Death of 
Bates Cook — Result of the election in November, 1841. 

Although the electoral ticket in favor of Gen. Harri- 
son had obtained a majority of 13,202 over the demo- 
cratic candidates for electors, the majority of Governor 
Seward over Mr. Bouck, who was the candidate of the 
adverse party, was only 5,203, and in the popular branch 
of the legislature the whigs barely obtained a majority, — 
for there were 66 whigs and 62 democrats elected ; thus 
showing that the whig strength in the state had continued 
steadily to decline since their great success at the elec- 
tion in the autumn of 1837. Mr. Bouck, however, may 
have received rather more than a strict party vote, by 
means of the strong vote for him in his own native coun- 
ty, Schoharie, and his great popularity along the line of 
the Erie Canal, where he had so long officiated as canal 
commissioner. 



1841.] whk; caucus. 183 

The senate consisted of the following persons : 
1st District. (Julian C. Verplanck, Charles Freeman, 
Mitithorn Tompkins,* John B. Scott.* 

iid. Henry A. Livingston, Daniel Johnson,* John Hun- 
ter,* Rul)ert Dennison.* 

3(1. Friend Humjthrey, AlonzoC. Paige,* Erastus Root, 
H. \V. Strong.* 

nil. Martin Lee, Bethuel Peck, James G. Hopkins, 
John VV. Tavlor. 

r>tli. Avery Skinner,* Joseph Clark,* Sunmer Ely,* 
H«iiry A. Foster.* 

(Jth. Laurens Hull, Alvah Hunt. Andrew B. Dickin- 
son, \ehemiah I'latt. 

7tli, John Maynard, RoU-rt C. Nicholas, Mark H. 
Sibley, Elijah Rhoads. 

8th. William A. Afosely, Heiiry Hawkins, Abraham 
Dixoii, Samuel Works. 

The gentlemen whose names are placed last in the cat- 
alogue from each district, were chosen at the election in 
November, 1840. To the name of each dermx-rat we 
have placed a star, by which it will be .seen that the sen- 
.ate this year consisted of 21 whigs and 11 democrats. 
Of the menjbers chosen at this election, those fn»m the 
fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth districts were whio^, 
and in the remaining four districts the democratic candi- 
dates were chosen. 

The legislature met on Tuesdav the fifth day <>f Jan- 
uary, but on the evening previous a caucus of the whig 
members of the assembly was held for the purpo.se of 
nominating their officers. Every whig member elected 
was in attendance. After organizing, the meeting pro- 
ceeded to ballot for speaker ; and on canva.ssinrr the bal- 
lots, it appeared that Peter B. Porter, Jr., of Niagara 



184 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

county, nephew of Gen. Peter B. Porter, the late secre- 
tary of war, had received 46 votes, and John M. Holly, 
of Wayne, we presume a son of the late Myron Holly, 
19. Mr. Porter was of course declared the nominee. 
Philander B. Prindle, of Chenango county, the popular 
clerk of the last house, was unanimously nominated clerk. 
On the same evening, the democratic members held a 
meeting for the same purpose which had induced that of 
the whigs, when Levi S. Chatfield, of Otsego, was 
nominated for speaker, and William W. Van Zant, of 
Albany, for the office of clerk. In the caucus, upon bal- 
loting, Mr. Chatfield received 45 votes, and Michael Hoff- 
man 11. 

Upon the assembly being called to order by Mr. Prin- 
dle, on Tuesday morning, Mr. Porter received 65 votes, 
and Mr. Chatfield 60 ; whereupon Mr. Porter was de- 
clared speaker, and conducted to the chair, from which 
he briefiv addressed the house, as is usual on such occa- 
sions, and in an appropriate manner. Immediately after 
the organization of the house by the appointment of its 
officers, the message of the governor was announced and 
read. It was lengthy, but was, as all had anticipated, 
able and eloquent. We cannot here give even a skele- 
ton so as to present, as it were, in miniature, this elabo- 
rate message, and shall only attempt to exhibit some of 
its more prominent features. 

In relation to the fiscal concerns of the state, the gov- 
ernor stated that the amount of duties on auction sales 
received for the last year into the treasury, was 
$164,621.38, and on salt, $155,961.16; that the amount 
received for duties on sales at auction was $60,780.46 
less than had been received the preceding year ; and that 
within the same time there was a falling off in the re- 



1841] STATK KK\F.NUE, ETC. 185 

ccipts lor the tax on salt of jB33,301.90 : the auction duties, 
he alleged, were diiiiiuished in c«>tist'(juence ot the de- 
pression of cotninerce during the last year, and that the 
income from the salt works was reducetl for the reason 
that less salt had Ix'en manufactured. This diminution 
in the (juantity of salt manufactured he attrihuted to an 
insuHicient su[»|»ly of salt water. lie stat«'d that the 
whole amount of tolls and for rent of the surplus waters 
received from all the canals during the preceding year 
was Sl,U0H,H\i7.ir> ; that the amount of charges for re- 
pairs and other ex|)enses on the canals, waus $.jn(!.01 1.87 ; 
and he expressed his gratification that the net income 
accruing from the canals during the year INK), had in- 
creased 8ir»!>,3(!r>.r>5 l>eyond the amount received during 
the year 1N3«». 

The governor stated that the sum which had lieen 
and would U* ex|»ended by the first day of March then 
next, lor enlarging the Hrie Canal, would aimunit to 
$7.r)3N,H3*2 ; :md that to complete the enlargement would 
require an additional exjH'nditure. according to the " cor- 
rected' vstmvile tA[\w cnuii\coiumiSH\oncrfi,iA^lCtJn',iAii>4. 
This great work, he thought, might be cotnpleted in the 
spring of the year 1817. 

With resjvct to the Black KTver Canal, he informed 
the leuislature that 81.1H0.0I)7.«WJ h.ul been i x|)ended 
on it. and that the whole cost of the work would be 

«2,i:n.j;'.M»."j'.). 

The whole expense of constructing the Genesee Valley 
Canal, he said, had l)een estimated at §l.«)00.rJ2.79, of 
which 8'2,."»00,()00 hat! already been ex[>ended. 

He alluded, in terms of high commendation, to the ef- 
forts which were being made by the various railroad com- 
panies to complete their resj^ctive enterprises. And he 

16* 



186 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

Stated that the whole debt of the state at that time, exclu- 
sive of its liabilities for incorporated companies, and its 
loans to those companies, amounted to $15,064,746.33. 

Experience soon afterwards proved that Gov. Seward 
placed too much confidence in those chartered compa- 
nies, especially the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
pany, to whom the state had loaned its moneys and its 
credit ; by means of which loans and liabilities, the state 
debt ultimately proved to be much larger than he antici- 
pated. 

The governor rapidly reviewed the condition of our 
courts of law and equity, and strongly recommended a 
new organization, and a reform in our system of jurispru- 
dence. He alluded in a very proper manner to the con- 
troversy between him and the governor of Virginia, to 
which he had called the attention of the legislature in his 
last annual message. He expressed a cordial approbation 
of the late law abolishing imprisonment for debt ; and as 
imprisonment for debt was still tolerated and enjoined by 
the laws of the United States, he recommended that this 
state should deny the United States the use of their pris- 
ons to incarcerate unfortunate debtors, unless such debt- 
ors have been guilty of fraud. 

In view of the short period that the law requires of 
foreigners to reside in the state before they are entitled 
to vote at our elections, the governor urges, with great 
force, the propriety of providing for the education of the 
children of foreigners. He alludes to the alarming fact 
which appeared from the late census, that there were in 
the state of New York 43,871 white persons, over the 
age of twenty, who could neither read nor write. On 
this subject the governor says : 

" Not much, however, can be accomplished by legisla- 



1841.] PUBLIC INdTRLCTIOX. 1^7 

tion, to affect the relation between masses of adult citi- 
zens ; ami the change tlesired in this res|)ect must be left 
chierty to time and the oj>frations of our institutions. Hut 
it is not so in regard to the rising generation. The cen- 
sus of the United States is said to show, that there are 
43,87 1 white {)ersons in this state, who have passed the 
age of twenty years without having learned to read and 
write. Let us make allowance for any pro|Mirtion of 
a<lult foreigners, and there yet remains a large number of 
uneducated citizens. The numl>er of children nt»w grow- 
ing u|) in the same maimer, does not fall short of thirty 
thousand. These are the tjffspring. not of pros|)erity and 
allluence, but of [loverty and misfortune. 

" Knowing from the records of our penitentiaries, that 
of this neglected class those are most fortunate who, from 
precocity in vice, secure admission into the house of ref- 
uge, or the state pri.><on, through the ways of crime ; and 
knowing, t(x>, that almost every application for pardon is 
urge<l on the ground of neglected education, I have felt it 
an iin|terative duty to a|»|»eal to the legislature to render 
our system of education as coinj)rehensive as the |»uriK>ses 
for which it was established. Of 1,058 children in the 
almshouse of the city of New York, one-sixth part is of 
American parentage, one-sixth was bfjrn abroad, and the 
remainder are the children of foreigners ; and of 250 
children in the hou.se of refuge, more than one-half were 
either born abroad, or of foreign parents. The |>overtv, 
misfortunes, accidents, and prejudices to which foreigners 
are exjMised, satisfactorily account, to my mind, for the 
undue proportion of their children in the neglected class 
to which the attention of the legislature was called. Al- 
though the excellent public .schf>ols in the city of New 
York are open to all, and have long afforded gratuitous 



188 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

instruction to all who seek it, nevertheless the evil there 
exists in its greatest magnitude. 

" Obviously, therefore, something more is necessary to 
remove it than has yet been done, unless we assume that 
society consents to leave it without remedy. These cir- 
cumstances led me to the reflection, that possibly a por- 
tion ol" tliose whom other eflbrts had failed to reach, 
might be brought within the nurture of the schools, by 
employing for their instruction teachers who, from their 
relations towards them, might be expected to secure their 
confidence. When the census of 1850 shall be taken, I 
trust it will show, that within the borders of the state of 
New York there is no child of sufficient years who is 
unable to read and write. I am sure it will then be ac- 
knowledged, that when, ten years before, there were thir- 
ty thousand children growing up in ignorance and vice, 
a suggestion to seek them wherever found, and win them 
to the ways of knowledge and virtue by persuasion, sym- 
pathy, and kindness, was prompted by a sincere desire 
for the common good. I have no pride of opinion con- 
cerning the manner in which the education of those whom 
I have brought to your notice shall be secured, although 
I might derive satisfaction from the reflection, that amid 
abundant misrepresentation of the method suggested, no 
one has contended that it would be ineflectual, nor has 
any other plan been proposed. I observe, on the contra- 
ry, with deep regret, that the evil remains as before ; and 
the question recurs, not merely how or by whom shall 
instruction be given, but whether it shall be given at all, 
or be altogether withheld. Others may be content with 
a system that erects free schools and offers gratuitous in- 
struction. But, I trust I shall be allowed to entertain the 
opinions, that no system is perfect that does not accom- 



1841.1 nULIC IX-STRfCTIUN. 189 

jdish what it proposes ; that our ^sleiu is therefore defi- 
cient in comprehensiveness, in the exact proportion of 
the childrt-n that it leaves uneducattil ; that knowktlge, 
however acquired, is better than ignorance ; and that 
neither error, accident, nor prejudicf. ought to be perniit- 
ted to deprive the state of the education of her citizens. 
Cherishing such oj»inions, I coultl not enjoy the ct>nscious- 
ness of having discharged my duty, il any eflort had been 
omitted which was calculated to bring within the schools 
iUl who are destinetl to exercise the rights of citizenship; 
nor shall I feel that the svstem is iH-rfect, or libertv safe, 
until that object be accomplished. Not |»ersonally con- 
cerned alK)Ut such misapprehensions as have arisen, but 
desirous to remove every obstacle to tlie accomplishment 
of so important an «jbject, 1 very freely declare, that I 
seek the education of those whom I have brought l>efore 
vou. not to |K'r|H'tuate any prejudices or distinctions 
which deprive them of itistruclion, but in disregard of all 
such distinctions and prejudices. 1 s«tlicit their education 
less from sympathy than U'causc the welfare of the state 
demands it, and cannot dis|»ense with it. As native citi- 
zens, they are born t«» the right of sulfnige. 1 ask that 
they may at least be taught to read and w rite ; in asking 
this, 1 recpjire no more for them than I have diligently 
endeavored to secure Ut the inmates of our |)enitentiarics, 
who have forfeited that inestimable franchise by crin)e, 
and also t(t an unfortunate race, which, having been 
plunged by us into degradation and ignorance, has been 
excludetl from the franchi.se by an arbitrary prt)perty 
qualification incongruous w ith all our institutions. I have 
not recommendeil. nor do I seek the education of any 
class in foreign languages, or in particular creeds or 
faiths ; but fully believing with the author of the Decla- 



190 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841, 

ration of Independendfe, that even error may be safely 
tolerated where reason is left free to combat it ; and 
therefore indulging no apprehensions from the influence 
of any language or creed among an enlightened people, I 
desire the education of the entire rising generation in all 
the elements of knowledge we possess, and in that tongue 
which is the universal language of our countrymen. To 
me the most interesting of all our republican institutions, 
is the common school. 

" I seek not to disturb, in any manner, its peaceful and 
assiduous exercises, and, least of all, with contentions 
about faiths or forms. I desire the education of all the 
children in the commonwealth in morality and virtue, 
leaving matters of conscience where, according to the 
principles of civil and religious liberty established by our 
constitution and laws, they rightfully belong." 

These patriotic and benevolent views of the governor 
were undoubtedly presented with reference to a recom- 
mendation he had formerly made, that the Catholics in 
this state should be permitted to have their children edu- 
cated in the common branches by their own teachers, in 
such manner as they should deem to be in conformity to 
their religion ; and that schools so conducted should be 
entitled to their share of the moneys appropriated to com- 
mon schools. He also recommended the enactment of a 
registry law. 

Gov. Seward next proceeds to combat, with some se- 
verity, the financial views put forth by Mr. Flagg, the 
late comptroller, in his last report from that department ; 
but to give even a summary of the controversy in this 
place would entirely exceed the limits to which we feel 
restricted in remarking on the message. 

The governor states, that although the United States 



1841.] GEN. root's resolutions. 191 

contain a population of 17,000,000, less than one-third of 
the land included within the boundaries of these states is 
occupied or appropriated. We may remark here, that if 
in 1840 two-thirds of the lands in the United States were 
unap[)ropriated, how vast must be the quantity of unap- 
propriated lands since Texas has been annexed, and we 
have actjuired possession of the greater part of Oregon, to 
say nothing of our conquests in California and Mexico! 

The governor concludes by the expression of a very 
decided opinion, that the avails of the sales of the public 
lands ought to be distributed among the states ; and he 
cites, in sujjport of that opinion, the authority of Gov. 
Throop, Gen. Jackson, and President Jefferson. 

On the 5th day of January, Gen. Root introduced into 
the senate resolutions for profHJsing amendments to the 
constitution of the United States. The substance of 
these resolutions were, — 

1st. That no person should be eligible to the office 
of f)resident of the United States for more than one 
term. 

'2d. That members of congress should not be appoint- 
ed to any ofTice under the general government during the 
term for which they were elected. 

3d. That no person should be removed from office 
without the consent of the senate. 

4th. That the secretary of the United States treasury 
should be appointed by congress, and hold that office 
during their pleasure. 

These resolutions were laid on the table. Afterwards, 
when they came up for discussion, they were opposed 
by Mr. Foster, and supported by Gen. Root and Mr. 
Dickinson. A majority of the senate agreed to the first 
resolution, but postponed the consideration of the second 



192 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

until after the 4th day of March then next. We ought 
to have mentioned, that the substance of these resolutions 
had passed the senate on the last day of the preceding 
session, but the assembly, for want of time, could not 
consider and discuss them, and for that reason the con- 
currence of that house was not obtained. A different 
state of things now existed ; Gen. Harrison had been 
elected president, and on the 4th of March might desire 
to call some of the members of congress into his cabinet. 
Indeed, it was then well known that such was his deter- 
mination. Was it civil or wise for his whig friends in 
New York to pass in advance a vote of censure on the 
appointments of their favorite leader? How feeble is 
principle when it comes in competition with expediency 
or interest ! 

In the assembly, Mr. Townsend, of New York, on the 
same day gave notice of his intention to bring in a bill 
providing for the division of the towns and wards into 
election districts, and for holding the general election 
on one day only. This great and important measure was 
ultimately adopted by the legislature, and has not only 
added greatly to the convenience of the electors, but has 
very probably contributed, in no small degree, to aid in 
the preservation of the purity and fairness of our elec- 
tions, by rendering it more difficult to perpetrate some 
of the frauds to which the old system was exposed. 

A law had been passed during the preceding session, 
which required all the voters in the city of New York 
to be registered, under the directions of commissioners of 
the several wards, appointed for that purpose, some two 
or three weeks before the election. Challenges were to 
be made before those commissioners, and the right of vo- 
ting was settled and decided by them. Under this ar- 



18-il.] REGISTRY LAW. 193 

rangernent, the elector, on presenting his ballot to the 
inspectors at the election was entitled to vote, if his name 
ap{>eared on the catalogue made by the commissioners ; 
but il* his name was not found there, he was rejected. 
It was argued that this system would prevent much frau- 
dulent voting, which the hurry and confusion that gen- 
erally prevailed on the day of election, rendered it impos- 
sible to detect or prevent. This law, which was called 
"the Registry Law," was opposed with much zeal and 
ardor by a majority of the democratic party in New 
York. They contended that it violated the spirit, if not 
the letter of the constitution ; that it made an invidious 
distinction between the electors of that city and those in 
all other parts of the state ; and that it implied a suspi- 
cion of the purity and honesty of the voters of that city 
which was dishonorable to the inhabitants. 

General Root entertained different views on this sub- 
ject ; and as well because he thought the constitutional 
objections to the law unfounded, and that on general 
principles the law was necessary and proper, as to obvi- 
ate the objection against partial and local legislation, to 
which such a law seemed exposed, made several efforts 
to extend the provisions of the law to the whole state. 
Those efforts, however, were unsuccessful. 

Early in this session, Mr. Bates Cooke resigned the 
office of coni])troller, in consequence of the state of his 
health, and John A. Collier, of Broome county, late a 
member of congress and a lawyer of respectable stand- 
ing, was appointed his successor. 

It was reported that George W. Patterson, whom we 
have several times mentioned, and shall have occasion to 
mention again, as a man of distinguished talent, and great 
energy of character, was a favorite candidate of many 

17 



194 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

of the whig members of the legislature ; a majority, how- 
ever, were for Mr. Collier, but how large that majority- 
was we have never been informed. 

On the 5th of February, Mr. Haight was re-elected 
treasurer, and Mr. O. L. Holly was reappointed sur- 
veyor-general, of both of whom we have spoken in a 
preceding volume of this work. 

There were two leading party questions which occu- 
pied much of the time and attention of this legislature, 
and gi'eatly excited that of the public. The one was 
what was denominated " the Virginia controversy," and 
the other the removal, by the governor and senate, of 
-Robert H. Morris from the office of recorder of the city 
of New York. Besides these, the great question, wheth- 
er it was right to abolish capital punishment, was debated. 
The subjects of internal improvements and the financial 
concerns of the state, were also considered and debated. 
These were not strictly party questions, but the discus- 
sion which they elicited called forth vigorous efforts, and 
put in requisition the best talents in the assembly. 

The governor, in his annual message in 1840, had in- 
formed the legislature that the governor of Virginia had 
in July preceding made a requisition upon him to deliver 
three persons, as fugitives from justice, charged with 
having feloniously stolen a negro slave in that state ; that 
he had declined to comply with the requisition, upon the 
ground that the right to demand, and the reciprocal ob- 
ligation to surrender fugitives from justice between sov- 
ereign and independent nations, according to the law of 
nations, include onlv those cases in which the acts con- 
stituting the offence charged are recognised as crimes by 
the universal laws of civilized countries ; that the provi- 
sion in the United States constitution, in relation to the 



18-11. J VIBGINIA CONTROVERSY. 195 

delivery of fugitives charged with treason, felony, or 
other crime, was a recognisance of this principle of the 
law of nations in the mutual relations of the states of the 
Union ; that the act charged was not recognised as crim- 
inal by the laws of New York, or by the laws of all 
civilized countries ; that there was no law in this state 
by which one man could hold, or claim another man as 
projK>rty ; that therefore the crime of theft could not be 
predicated upon the act of liberating one man from the 
control of another ; and that consequently the case did 
not fall within the provisions of the constitution of the 
United States.* 

Governor Seward, in his niL-ssage in 1841, after allu- 
ding to his communication to the legislature the preceding 
year, on the subject of the requisition of the governor 
of Virginia, says : 

" The governor of Virginia, by direction of the legis- 
lature of that state, subsequently transmitted to me cer- 
tain resolutions of that body, with a request that I would 
lay the same before the legislature of this state." 

Copies of these resolutions, together with the corre- 
spondence between the two governors, and some other 
documents in relation to the controversy, were commu- 
nicated by Gov. Seward to the assembly of 1841, together 
with the message. 

The first letter of the governor of Virginia bears date 
August 30, 1839, in which he states, that "on the 25th 
of July (ult.)I received an affidavit signed by Miles King, 
mayor, and a justice of the [>eace for Norfolk borough in 
this state, in which it was solemnly and positively aver- 
red on oath by John G. CoUey, of said borough, that on 



• See 2 Political Iliston-, pp. 520, 521. 



190 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

or about the 15th of the same month, Peter Johnson, 
Edward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, attached to the schoon- 
er Robert Center, then in New York, ' did feloniously 
steal and take from the said Colley a certain negro slave 
named Isaac, the property of said Colley;' and it being 
alleged that they were fugitives from justice, I thereupon 
made a demand upon your excellency.for the surrender 
of them to John Caphart, an agent appointed for that 
purpose, in order that they might be brought back to Vir- 
ginia to be tried for the offence charged upon them, ac- 
cording to our laws." He concludes by complaining that 
the fug-itives have not been delivered according to the 
requisition. To this letter Mr. Seward replied on the 
16th of September. In his reply he sets forth a copy of 
the affidavit on which the requisition was founded, which 
is in these words : — 

" Norfolk Borough, to wit : 

" This day personally appeared before me, M. King, a 
justice of the peace of the borough aforesaid, state of 
Virginia, John G. Colley, of said borough, and made 
oath, that on or about the 15th inst., Peter Johnson, Ed- 
ward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, now attached to the 
schooner Robert Center, at present in New York, did 
feloniously steal and take from the said Colley a certain 
negro slave named Isaac, the property of the said Colley. 

" Given under my hand and seal this twenty-second 
day of July, 1839. 

" M. King, Mayor and J. P." 

Gov. Seward proceeds to state, that after examining 
the papers annexed to the requisition to authorize him to 
direct that the persons accused should be delivered to Mr. 



1841.] VlRGINIA-.CONTKOVERriV. 197 

Capliart, the agent of Virginia, his first impressions were 
that the athdavit was detective, inasmuch as it did not 
state that the jHjrsons demanded were fugitives from Vir- 
ginia, or that they were in tliis state. He therefore, 
being about to leave Albany on a short journey to the 
West, concluded to postjvjne deciding the case till his 
return. Hut before lie returned, he learned that the ac- 
cused jiersons had been arrested and committed to jail in 
New York, and had been discharged by the recorder of 
that city, and he concluded that Mr. Caphart had aban- 
doned the api)lication. The governor proceeds to say, 
that even if the affidavit wfis in form technically correct, 
he was of opinion that it was in substance defective, for 
the reasons stated in his message, and which therefore it 
is unnecessary to rej>eat. 

" It results," savs Gov. Seward, " from this view ol' the 
subject, that the offence charged in the affidavit, and spe- 
cified in the retjuisition, is not a felony nor a 'crime,' 
within the meaning of the constitution ; and that waiving 
all the defects in the affidavit, I cannot surrender the sup- 
posed fugitives to be carried to Virginia for trial under 
the statute of that state. 

" So far as mv knowledge extends, no state has ever 
admitted the constitutional obligation to surrender its 
citizens beyond the limits I have mentioned, although de- 
mands have been made in cases similar to the one under 
consideration. If I entertained doubts of the justness of 
the views I have exj>ressed, I should be very unwilling to 
establish a precedent so full of danger to the personal se- 
curity of the citizens of this state." 

Mr. Seward adds, that he had addressed a letter to 
Robert H. Morris, recorder of New York, with a view of 
ascertaining the grounds upon which the prisoners were 

17* 



198 POLITICAL HISTORY .OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

discharged. The answer of Mr. Morris contains a brief 
but very lucid statement of the case, and we therefore 
present it to the reader entire : 

To his Excellency Gov. Seward : 

Dear Sir — In the case of the three colored men, Isaac 
Gansey, Peter Johnson, and Edward Smith, upon habeas 
corpus, who were discharged by me from imprisonment 
in July or August last, the lacts as they appeared before 
me were as follows : 

The keeper of the prison returned that he detained the 
prisoners by virtue of a warrant of one of our police ma- 
gistrates. This warrant charged them with being fugi- 
tives from justice from the state of Virginia. 

The testimony upon which the warrant was issued was 
affidavits swearing to the legal conclusion that they were 
" fugitives from justice." It was also shown, that a re- 
quisition from the executive of Virginia had been for- 
warded to the governor of this state, demanding that the 
prisoners should be delivered up to the authorities of Vir- 
ginia. 

I then examined, u])on oath, two gentlemen from Vir- 
ginia who were present. One of them was the agent of 
the owner of the negro who was alleged to have been 
stolen, and the other assisted in retaking the slave. By 
reference to the papers before you in this case, you will 
observe, that one or both of these gentlemen made the 
affidavits upon which the complaint was made in Vir- 
ginia, against the three persons claimed to be fugitives. 

These gentlemen proved that the slave was a ship- 
carpenter, employed in Virginia in repairing the schooner 
on board of which the three prisoners were hands ; that 
after the schooner sailed, the slave was not to be found ; 



1841.] VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY. 199 

that they by express reached the harbor of New York be- 
fore the schooner arrived ; that they went on board the 
schooner and made known to the captain their suspicions 
that the slave was concealed on board. The captain de- 
nied all knowledge of the slave's being on board, and as- 
sisted in making search for the slave. The slave was 
found on board concealed amongst the live-oak timber. 
The three prisoners were the only colored persons on 
board. 

This was all that these gentlemen could testify to of 
their own knowledge, to show that the three men had sto- 
len the slave. As the question involved much feeling, I 
permitted the gentlemen to prove what had been told to 
them by others. One or both of the gentlemen testified 
that the slave informed them that one of the prisoners 
observed to him, (the slave.) that he was foolish to remain 
in Virginia, as he could get good wages north, and that 
this suggestion induced him to run away and secrete him- 
.self on board the vessel. 

This was all that they pretended could be proved by 
any one else, that showed any participation on the part 
of any of the prisoners in the escape of the slave. 

I permitted this kind of evidence, not as testimony in 
the case, but to learn whether there was any testimony 
in A'^irginia or elsewhere, that could implicate the prison- 
ers in the charge preferred, and also to learn what re- 
liance could be placed on affidavits swearing to legal con- 
clusions. 

I was satisfied that, accortling to the testimony, neither 
of the prisoners had committed an offence even against 
the law of Virginia, and that the testimony was not such 
as to authorize the detention of the prisoners. I there- 
fore discharged them. 



200 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

I owe your excellency an apology for not sooner an- 
swering your letter. Sickness in my family and constant 
official occupation have been the causes. 

Very respectfully, yours, &c. 
(Signed,) Robert H. Morris, 

Recorder of the City of New York. 

That the recorder was clearly right in discharging the 
prisoners is most evident. The affidavit states no facts 
or circumstances which implicated the accused, or showed 
that either directly or indirectly, they resorted to any 
practices to decoy or even induce the slave to leave the 
service of his master. The affidavit-maker merely alleges 
that the accused had feloniously stolen a negro slave, 
which was swearing, as the recorder justly remarks, to a 
law question. How any reasonable man could have en- 
tertained the least expectation that these men could have 
been convicted in Virginia, is truly astonishing. By the 
liberal indulgence of the recorder, the agent of Virginia 
was permitted to prove before him all he pretended he 
could prove if the prisoners were then on their trial in 
Virginia. And what was it ? Simply that they were on 
board a schooner in which the slave had ensconced 
himself " among the live-oak lumber," and that they were 
colored men ! 

Mr. Hopkins, the acting governor of Virginia, replied 
at great length to the letter of Gov. Seward. He com- 
mences by saying, — 

" I beg you to be assured, sir, that the views contained 
in your letter have been weighed most attentively, anx- 
iously, and respectfully ; and but for their novelty and 
dangerous tendency, I should have felt no wish to con- 
tinue the correspondence between us farther. But en- 



1841.] VIKUIMA CONTROVERSY. 201 

tertaining as I do a fixed opinion that your doctrines are 
at war with the language and spirit of the federal consti- 
tution, inconsistent with the true relations, rights, and du- 
ties of the states of the Union, and calculated to disturb 
the general harnionv of the ct>untrv, I feel it to be my 
imperious duty promptly to protest against such a prece- 
dent, and to vindicate the rights of the state whose exec- 
utive functions have been tcmi)orarily committed to my 
charge." 

He then proceeded, at great length, to argue that the 
position taken by Mr. Seward was untenable. The prin- 
cipal, and perhaps the only real (juestion between the 
parties was, whether a person who conuriits an act in a 
state where, by the statute law of that state, such act is 
made felonv, and esca|)es into a sister state, by whose 
laws the same act is not a crime, can, by the constitution 
of the United States, be required to be given up and sent 
back on the requisition of the governor of the first-men- 
tioned state. This ()uestion was ably and learnedly dis- 
cu.ssed by the acting governor of Virginia as well as by 
Gov. Seward. But, as usually hai)j)ens between contro- 
versialists, each failed to convince the other. 

Gov. Seward, at the session of 1840, submitted this 
corresp<indence to the legislature, and in the assembly it 
was referred to a committee, of which Mr. Simmons, 
from Essex county, was chairman. That committee 
concluded their report by saying, that — 

"On a careful examination of that correspondence, your 
committee cannot discover any occasion for the interpo- 
sition of this house, even by way of advice. They be- 
lieve the positions taken by the governor of this state to 
be sound and judicious, and that his exposition of the 
meaning of the constitutional provision in question, is the 



202 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [l841. 

only one that can be given consistently with the sove- 
reignty of the state and the rights of the citizens, while it 
is in strict conformity with our federal obligations to 
other states, and recognises all the rights which are in- 
tended to be secured." 

In the summer and autumn of 1840, the correspondence 
was resumed on the part of Virginia, by Thomas W. 
Gilmer, then governor of that state, and labored and 
learned arguments were transmitted from one governor 
to the other. In the mean time the legislature of Vir- 
ginia, on pretence of retaliation, passed inspection laws 
calculated to produce inconvenience to coasting-vessels 
from New York, which might enter the harbors and riv- 
ers of Virginia. Besides these measures taken by the 
legislature. Gov. Gilmer resorted to a singular expedient 
to coerce a compliance on the part of Gov. Seward with 
the demand of the former to deliver Peter Johnson and 
his two associates. 

A man by the name of Robert F. Curry, charged 
with committing the crime oi forgery in the state of New 
York, had escaped and fled to the state of Virginia. Gov. 
Seward, having been furnished with the proper evidence 
that the crime had been committed by Curry, made and 
executed a requisition, in the usual form, on the governor 
of Virginia, to cause him to be delivered to John D. Dix, 
of Ithaca. Mr. Gilmer refused to comply with the requi- 
sition, and by a message to the legislature of Virginia, in- 
formed them of his refusal ; and he caused to be forward- 
ed to Gov. Seward the following order : 

Executive Department, March \6lh, 1840. 
A demand from the governor of New York- for the 
surrender of Robert F. Curry, charged with the crime of 



184 1. J VIUCINIA CONTnoVERSY. 203 

forgery under the laws of that state, was this day pre- 
sented by John D. Dix, the accredited agent of the exec- 
utive of New York, together with a duly certified copy 
of an indictment found by the grand-jury of Tompkins 
county, in the state of New York, against the said Cur- 
ry ; and it being stated that the said Curry has been ar- 
rested, and is now in custody, within the jurisdiction of 
this conmionwealth : It is ordered, that the demand for 
the said Robert F. Curry is in proper form, and will be 
complied with whenever a similar demand for the surren- 
der of Peter Johnson, Edward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, 
heretofore charged with felony under the laws of this 
state, shall be complied with by the governor or authori- 
ties of the state of New York. 

It is further ordered, to be certified to the governor of 
New York, that measures will be taken for the detention 
of the said Curry for sLr months from the time of his 
arrest, a period sufficient, it is hoped, to enal)Ie the au- 
thorities of that state to determine whether the constitu- 
tion and laws under which this demand is made are of 
as binding force on the state of New York as on the state 
of Virginia. 

By order of the governor, 

Wm. II. RiniARDSON, 
Secretary of the Commonivealth. 

This proceeding can hardly deserve a better name than 
" Lynch -law." The executive order of Virginia, on the 
face of it, admitted that the requisition of Curry was "in 
proper form," and assigned as a rea.son for non-compli- 
ance, that Gov. Sew;ird had refused the demand to sur- 
render Peter Johnson and others to the authorities of 
Virginia. Were my neighbor to burn my barn, and were 



204 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841- 

I, as an offset, to burn his house, the case would in princi- 
ple be similar. Besides, the order was a flagrant viola- 
tion of Curry's constitutional rights. He was to be pre- 
sumed innocent until, upon a traverse, he was proved 
guilty. And yet poor Curry was to be kept in prison, 
without an opportunity of confronting his accusers, du- 
ring the pleasure of Gov. Gilmer, or until the governor 
of New York would comply with the mandate of the gov- 
ernor of a sister state. It is due to the legislature of Vir- 
ginia to add, that when the message of Mr. Gilmer, giv- 
ing an account of this proceeding, was read in the house 
of delegates, one of the members (Mr. jMay) offered a 
resolution disapproving of the conduct of the New York 
governor in refusing to surrender Johnson and others, 
but censuring the refusal of Gov. Gilmer to deliver Cur- 
ry. The resolution was in these words : 

" Resolved, therefore, by the general assembly, That 
in its opinion, any fugitive, legally charged with crime, 
and demanded by the governor of New York, according 
to the constitution and laws of the United States, ought 
to be surrendered, notwithstanding the refusal of the gov- 
ernor of that state to act in a similar case." 

When that part of the message of 1841 which related 
to the Virginia controversy was considered in the New 
York assembly, Mr. Lawrence, of Queen's county, moved 
to refer it, together with the correspondence on the sub- 
ject, to a select committee. 

Mr. Loomis, from Herkimer, opposed the reference, 
stating, that in his judgment, the state of Virginia had a 
right to demand the surrender of fugitives who had done 
any act which by the laws and statutes of that state was 
made felony, though the same act could not be punished 
as a crime in this state ; but he was of opinion that the 



1841. J VIRGINIA CUNTROVEKSY. "205 

facts contained in the j»a[^)ers presented by the agent of 
Virginia to Gov. Seward were not sutficient to warrant 
putting the accused on trial, and for that cause he thought 
the governor was right in relusing to surrender them ; and 
Mr. L. olVered resolutions for the consideration of the 
house, in accordance with his view of the case.* 

Mr. lluhbel, of Tompkins, late adjutant-general, who 
had, during the strugt;le in 1837, joined the whig i)arty, 
offered a resolution j)ur}Hjrting that the (juestion belonged 
exclusively to the executive department, and therefore 
that the house ought in no manner to interfere. 

These several |)ropositions were discussed from day to 
day at great length. The main (juestion was involved 
in the resolution of Mr. Ix)omis. The resolution j)ro- 
posed by Gen. IIubl)el, however, led to a critical exam- 
ination of the res|)ective |)owers and duties of the several 



• Tlifl constitution of the United States provides that *' congress shall 
make no law reK[>eclin(j an establishmi'iit of rclijijion," &.C., but a ulate, 
whose constitution pennitti it, may niakf laws to estiibliHh any religion it 
prefers, and inflict such penalties for the violation of those laws a-s it may 
deem expedient and pro[)«T ; in which case the United States (rovernment 
cauiiof coustilutioniiliy interfere to prevent the execution of such laws by 
the state which enacts them. 

The following question is therefore respectfully submitted to Mr. Looniis, 
and those who think with him. Suppose a state, Virginia for instance, 
should amend its coii.stitulinn so a-s to authorize its legislature to niike a 
law for the establishment of a particular religion ; suppose, then, that slate 
should enact that every person wh*o should deny the " real presence" at 
the sacrament, should be burned at the stake ; and suppose Mr. L., while 
travelling llirough Virgina on business, should deny that he believed in 
the doctrine of " the reiil presi'uee,'' and after his return to this stale tlie 
governor of Virginia should demand him of the governor of this state as a 
" fugitive from justice," ought the governor of New York to surrender 
him ? 

18 



206 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84L 

departments of the state government, and their consti- 
tutional boundaries. 

Mr. Wheaton, a talented and eloquent member from 
Albany, Mr. Hubbel, 31r. Simmons, and Mr. Culver, 
among others delivered speeches in support of the course 
pursued by the governor, and against the propriety or right 
of interference by the legislature. On the other hand, the 
resolutions of Mr. Loomis were sustained by the mover, 
by ^Messrs. Townsend and Jones, of New York, and by Dr. 
Taylor, late a member of congress from Onondaga, and 
others. Dr. Taylor concluded an able speech by saying, 
with his usual modesty and courtesy, " It does appear to 
me — although I am free to acknowledge I have had diffi- 
culty in making up my mind, (for I do not consider this 
as one of those clear cases in regard to wliich a man 
may decide at first blush, ai\d I admit there is a plausibil- 
ity in some of the views of the governor) — I say it is my 
deliberate judgment that the governor has erred, (from 
the best examination I nave been able to give to the sub- 
ject) — erred in his position with regai'd to the right of 
Virgmia to demand, and the obligation of New York to 
surrender, a citizen charged with stealing a slave." 

We cannot perceive that any final vote on the long 
and laboriously debated questions which grew out of the 
Virginia controversy, was taken by the house, and our 
impression is, that it was suft'ered to die away without 
taking any decisive vote upon any material point. In the 
month of February a motion 'was made that the consid- 
eration of the subject should be indefinitely postponed, 
which was carried by a vote of fifty to thirty-eight, and 
this seems to have been the last action upon it during 
that session. 

Previous to the election of presidential electors in No- 



1841.] GLEXTWUETH CASE. 201 

veniber, 1840, a plan ap(>ears to have been contrived to 
smuggle into the city of New York inhabitants of the 
city of Philadi'lphia, who should, on their arrival in Xew 
York, be fraudulently introduced to the inspectors of 
election as legal voters in that city. This j»lan was dis- 
covered previous to its consummation by Col. Jon. D. Ste- 
ven.son, now in command of a regiment of United States 
volunteers in ralifornia. Mr. Stevenson, who then was 
acting with the whig party, some time in Se[»tember, 
1840, held a conversation with one J. B. CJlentworth. an 
insj)ector of tobacco, resj>ecting the probable result of the 
ensuing election, and the necessary arrangements which 
ouijht to \)C made in order to secure success. Cilentworth 
thereu|H>n sugjj;ested to Stevenson that voters ought to be 
im|Htrted from Philadelphia; that at the election of 1838 
lie hud himself obtained the attendance of many inhab- 
itants of Philadtlj»hia, who voted in several «)f the wards 
of the citv, at the exi>ense <»f thirtv dollars for each voter ; 
that he h;ul written evidence of his agency in the l)usi- 
ness in his jRJssession ; and in the same conversation it 
was proposed tliat Stevenson should undertake the mis- 
sion in 1840, which had been so successfully executed in 
1838 by Mr. dlentworth. Mr. Stevenson swears that 
he consented to undertake the enterprise, for the |>uri»ose 
of detecting, ex|osing. and preventing the fraud. Ac- 
cording to his affidavit he went to Philadelphia with a 
letter of intPKluction from Cilentworth, where he nego- 
tiated w ith the high constable of that city to furnish him 
with a certain number of men, at a price agreed up<jn, 
who should come to New York, and offer themselves as 
voters at the coming election. Sortie corres|xindence in 
writing was alterwards carried on between Stevenson and 
his agents in Philadelphia, in which the fraudulent voters 



203 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [l841. 

v/ere described as persons who would come to New York 
for the purpose of being employed to lay iron or lead 
water-pipes. Hence the democratic newspapers charac- 
terized the poHtical partisans engaged in this transaction 
as ''pipe-layers." 

A few days before the election Stevenson made a full 
disclosure of the plot to Benjamin F. Butler and, we be- 
lieve, John W. Edmonds. They advised that a prosecu- 
tion should be instituted against Glentworth, and that 
measures should be taken to gain possession of his papers, 
which, it was allesed, contained the evidence of the fraud. 
These papers had been deposited with Mr. Pierce, a citi- 
zen, and, as we believe, a respectable citizen, of Xew 
\ ork. Criminal proceedings were instituted before Re- 
corder Morris against Glentworth, who, by the way, was 
soon after this disclosure removed from his office as in- 
spector of tobacco bv Gov. Seward ; and Mr. Morris 
went with an officer, in the night-time, to the house of 
Mr. Pierce, and demanded of him the Glentworth papers, 
as thev were called, which had been delivered to him, 
sealed in a package, for safe-keeping. Mr. Pierce hesi- 
tated about complying with this demand, whereupon the 
recorder said to him he would search for the papers, and 
seize them by force, by virtue of his authority as a ma- 
gistrate ; and under the coercion of this threat, ^Ir. 
Pierce gave up the papers. Shortly afterwards a grand- 
jury was empannelled for the Court of General Sessions 
i' Xew York, of which the recorder was presiding judge 
It was pretty well understood that an attempt would be 
made to procure the indictment of Mr. ^Morris, as being 
guilty of a misden^anor, in coercing, in the manner 
above stated, the delivery of the papers by Pierce. The 
recorder, in his charge to the gi^and-jury on that occa- 



1841] REMOVAL t)K RKCORUEK OK V. Y. ti09 

siun, stated the case, as. he i;upix)sed it would be proved 
against hiinseh', and went on to dehver a lal>ored argu- 
ment in justification of his conduct. 

On tile '2*Jth of December, the governor wrote to Mr. 
Morris, informing him that he should recommend his re- 
moval from the office of recorder on two grounds : 

1st. Because lie deemed his conduct at the house of 
Mr. Pierce unjustifiable. 

2d. Because, in his judgment, it was improf»er for the 
recorder to avail himself of his otiicial station to charge 
the grand-jury on a ([uestion in which he was individu- 
ally concerned. 

On the 8th day of January, the recorder replied, at 
great length, to the governor's letter. The reply con- 
tained a very ingenious argunient. and afforded evidence 
of much legal learning and ability. The rec^trder insist- 
ed that none but " unreasonablf" searches were prohib- 
ited by the constitution, and that under the circumstances 
it was jx'rfectly reasonable, had Mr. Pierce not given up 
the Glentworth j)a{x^rs, to have forcibly seized them. lie 
also maintained that it was his right, as presiding judge, 
to charge the grand-jury on any question which it was 
anticipated miiiht come before them. 

The govenifir. on the 12th of January, and before he 
received Mr. Morris's letter, sent a message to the sen- 
ate recommending his removal from the office of recorder, 
for the causes set forth in his letter of the 29th Decem- 
ber, and in the same message he nominated Frederick A. 
Tallmadge, formerly a senator from New York, as the 
successor of Mr. Mi»rris. 

The proceedings on the message, according to the rules 
of the senate, were in secret session, but were al'terwards 
made public by a special order for that purix)se. As this 

18* 



210 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

case, at the time, excited much interest, and is one novel 
and indeed important in its character, we wiR give a brief 
summary of these proceedings, mainly collected from the 
Albany Argus. 

The message, after being read, and an ineffectual at- 
tempt made by Mr. Hunter to lay it on the table, was, 
with the accompanying papers, referred to the senators 
from the first district. 

Mr. Strong then offered the following resolution : 

" Whereas the governor has communicated to the sen- 
ate a correspondence between him and the recorder of 
the city of New York, accompanying his recommenda- 
tion of the removal of the said recorder, and in such 
recommendation states that he will communicate to the 
senate any further communication he may receive from 
the said recorder — Therefore, 

" Resolved, That as the recorder has not had a full op- 
portunity of making his defence before the governor, and 
none whatever before the senate, the recorder be notified 
of the causes for his removal set forth in the recommend- 
ation of the governor, and have an opportunity of being 
heard in his defence before the senate." 

On motion of Mr. Peck, the resolution was laid on the 
table by the following vote : 

Ayes — Messrs. Dickinson, Dixon, Hawkins, Hopkins, 
Hull, Humphrey, Lee, Livingston, Maynard, Moseley, 
Nicholas, Peck, Piatt, Rhoades, Root, Taylor, Verplanck, 
Works— 18. 

Noes — Messrs. Denniston, Ely, Foster, Hunt, Paige, 
Scott, Skinner, Strong — 8. 

On the 15th of January, the governor transmitted to 
the senate the letter of the recorder, dated the 8th, to- 
gether with a message, in which he persisted in the rec- 



1841] •removal OF Ki:cx»ui)::u OF v. y. 211 

omnieiulalion of removal, and he also stated that the 
recorder had sent to him a pamphlet, (containing atlida- 
vits taken before the recorder,) which he declined to 
transmit to the senate, as it contained irrelevant matter, 
unless the senate should re(|uest it. 

Mr. Verplanck then moved that "so much of the mes- 
sage of his excellency, the governor, as relates to the 
cau.ses assigned for the removal of Robert H. Morris 
from the office of recorder of the city of New \ ork, 
together with the accompanying documents and pajiers, 
be referred to the committee on the judiciary, and that 
the committee, consisting of the senators attending the 
senate from the first district, be discharged from the fur- 
ther consideration of thi- same." 

Mr. V. said the (juestion was one of great interest to 
the state, and one founded on general principles of law. 
The senators from the first district were not all present ; 
Mr. Furman, his colleague, had g«nie home, and would 
be absent several days, leaving only two senators in at- 
tendance from that district ; and besides, as it was an 
exciting subject, the senators from that district might 
perhaps be prejudiced in their opinions. 

The motion prevailed. 

Mr. Foster then ofiered the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That his excellency the governor be re- 
quested to communicate to the senate all depositions, 
paj)ers, and documents, which Robert H. Morris, Esq., 
recorder of the city of New York, has furnished him in 
his defence made to the causes assigned by the governor 
for removing him from his said office." 

Mr. Lee objected, that the pamphlet sent to the gov- 
ernor contained much irrelevant matter. 



212 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK.* [1841. 

Mr. Paige — The papers, relied upon by the recorder, 
are marked with his initials, and are authentic. 

Mr. Maynard presumed Mr. Morris sent the pamphlet 
to save time and the trouble of copying, and suggested 
an amendment to the resolution, that the governor com- 
municate such papers as are pertinent. 

Mr. Scott could not see how the pamphlet could be 
considered irrelevant : it is upon those papers that the 
recorder ustifies his proceedings. 

Mr. Maynard said the pamphlet contained arguments 
of course, newspaper remarks, and much other irrelevant 
matter. 

Mr. Foster said the governor had done what he thought 
was his duty : our duty now remains. Mr. Morris deems 
the ])apers important to his defence, and the governor 
differs from him. He (Mr. F.) should never hold to the 
doctrine that power creates infallibility. He w^anted to 
hear both sides, so as to form his own opinion. The 
senator from the seventh (Mr. Maynard) objects to news- 
paper evidence, when the highest authority of the state 
has based the charge against the recorder upon a news- 
paper. It may be that a different impression would 
have been made upon the governor, if he had waited 
for this communication from the recorder before recom- 
mending his removal. After he had taken a wrong start, 
it was more difficult to convince him. It was due to the 
recorder that he should have an opportunity of present- 
ing to the senate the defence he had made. This was a 
proceeding (continued Mr. F.) before a secret tribunal, 
and its object was to degrade the recorder, and deprive 
him of his office. He trusted the senate would make no 
exception, would leave nothing to the discretion of the 
governor, but would call for all the papers. 



1841] RI:M''\ AL OF RKCORDER OF N. Y. 213 

Mr. Strung hof)od the resolution would )ia?:i as origin- 
ally iritrotlucfd. In this matter the senate is similar, in 
some resj>ects, to a court ol justice ; at all events, it 
ought to be so far similar as to preserve the fornis of jus- 
tice. In a court, irrelevant testimony may be oHered, 
but it cannot be decided to be irrelevant, until it has been 
oli'ered and understood. The governor may be fully im- 
pressed with the belief that the j)ai>ers are irrelevant ; but 
it does not appear that the senate will be of the same 
opinion. He ho[>ed all the papers would be received 
from the governor, and referred to the committee having 
charge of the subject. 

Mr. Lee was not prepared to vote on the question at 
the present time. It was a matter of great doubt wheth- 
er there was any thing relevant in the pa|iers. If the 
question does not depend on the guilt or innocence of the 
parties Ixjfore the recorder, the papers are of no conse- 
quence. 

The resolution was then laid on the table till the next 
day. 

On the 16th, the resolution offered by Mr. Foster was 
taken up and ad«)i)led. 

The resolution oflbred by Mr. Strong was called up, 
when Mr. Strong said that to deny the recorder a hear- 
ing before the senate would be to deny him what was 
granted to the pettiest otVender in ever)" court of justice 
in the land. If he was removed, it must be because he 
was incompetent, or because he was corrupt. No one 
pretends the former, and the charge was therefore one of 
mal and corrupt conduct in office. He should consider 
it a gi-oss and high-handed invasion of the rights of the 
peo{)le if the senate should try the recorder on this charge, 
without giving him an opportunity of being present ia 



21-1 rOLITICAT, HISTORY OF \E\V YORK. [1841. 

person and by counsel, and of being heard in his defence. 
The constitution of the United States has guarantied 
this right to every citizen, and in a case of this magni- 
tude and importance, the senate should pause before wan- 
tonly breaking down the barriers set up by that sacred 
instrument for the protection of popular rights. 

Mr. Root said he did not know, when the resolution 
was first introduced, but that it was proper ; but as he 
had given it more thou2;ht, he had come to the conclu- 
sion that this was not a case of criminal prosecution 
where the accused party had a right of being heard. Mr. 
R. gave a brief history of the former system of appoint- 
ment and removal by the governor and council, and ar- 
gued, that as the new constitution required county clerks 
and justices of the peace to have notices of charges 
against them before being removed, it intended to give 
officers an opportunity of being heard in their defence 
only in those cases. He said, he knew there was much 
noise made about the removal of the marine judges in 
New York last winter, but it was because the people did 
not understand the constitution. It would be as well, as 
this is the first instance, to have the mode of proceeding 
settled. He hoped it would go to the judiciary com- 
mittee. 

Mr. Scott said the senator from the third (Mr. Root) 
had expressed a wish that the mode of proceeding in these 
cases might be settled. He (Mr. S.) hoped no rule would 
be adopted, depriving the citizen of the right of being 
heard in his defence. Mr. S. alluded to the former high 
position the senator from the third (Mr. Root) held in the 
democratic party. It was from him (Mr. S. said) I 
learned the first lesson of democracy, and it is with pain 
I now see him attempting to deprive the people of their 



18-11.1 nEM<'\ AI. <>l IM.roKDKK OK \. Y. 215 

dearest rights. Mr. S. s|)uke ol the removal ol the ma- 
rine judges in IVew Yoric by the governor and senate, 
last winter. He demonstrated that the judges of that 
court were still justices ol' the peace, and that their remo- 
val witlmut notice wils a palpahle violation ol the letter 
of the constitution, lie read from the constitution as 
follows : — ■ And no justice of the |)eace shall be removed 
until he shall have notice of the charges made against 
him, and an o|ijH)rlunity of l)eing heard in his defence." 
The senate removed ihem, (continued Mr. S..) and 1 now 
stand here to tell this Ujtly that I was elected by an over- 
whelming majority, as a distinct rebuke from the people 
u|)on the proceedings of the senate last winter. Is one 
rule to l)e meted out to t>ne f>flicer. and another to an- 
other, under this constitution ? Mr. S. then reviewed 
the course of the governor in not giving time to the re- 
corder, &LC. 

The motion lo nicr Mr. Strong's resolution to the 
committee on the judiciary was then adopted. 

Mr. Maynard, from a majority of the committee on the 
judiciary, presented a written report against the resolu- 
tion to notify the recorder of the charges against him, and 
to allow him a hearing before the senate. 

Mr. Strong arose and said he had, .is a member ol the 
judiciary committee, an adverse report in writing, in fa- 
vor of tlie re.«<olution. 

The president pro tcin. If there is no objection, it will 
be received. 

Mr. Slron>r. It is a matter of right. 

The president pro tern. The president, who usually 
occupies the chair, has always held that receiving a re- 
port of a minority is a matter oi courtesy, but the ques- 
;.ion need not now be raised, as the report will be received. 



216 POLITICAL HISTORY OF \K\V VORK. [1841. 

Mr. Strong then presented his report, and both reports 
were laid on the table. 

Mr. Maynard then offered the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That the message of the governor, recom- 
mending the removal of the recorder of the city of New 
York, with the defence of the recorder, and the docu- 
ments accompanying the same, be referred to the attor- 
ney-general to report his opinion thereon." 

Mr. Maynard said the recorder had made a very long, 
a very ingenious, and, perhaps, a legal defence, and that 
it was important that the subject be acted upon soon, as 
it was necessary on account of the courts in New York, 
the recorder decUning to act, from an apprehension tliat 
he was alreadv removed, as in that case his acts would be 
illegal. ]Mr. 31. also alluded to the injunction of secrecy, 
and said that what was done here was known, as appear- 
ed from the remarks of the recorder on the bench, though 
he (Mr. M.) disclaimed any imputation. 

Mr. Foster opposed the resolution. It had better be 
referred to the Supreme Court. The attorney-general 
was admitted ex gratia as a counsellor in the Supreme 
Court to qualify him for his station. What did he know 
of great constitutional principles ? He skimmed on the 
surface : he was, besides, a political partisan of the gov- 
ernor. It would be improper in a case of this kind to 
take the opinion of the attorney-general ; if such an ofin- 
ion was received, the recorder should be heard by the 
senate. Mr. F. refeiTed to a communication in the 
Courier and Enquirer, as to what was divulged in tlie 
case of Glentworth, and said that what the recorder had 
said, any one might know. 

During these proceedings, several very able speeches 
were made. Messrs. Foster, Paige, and Strona; made 



1811] BEMitVAL OF RECORDEE OK S. V. 217 

treat and zeaJous eflorts in defence of Mr. Morris ; while 
on the other hand. Gen. lloiA, Mr. V'erplanck, and that 
cool and sagacious statesman and learned lawyer, Mr. 
Maynard, sustained, with equal ability, the recommenda- 
tion oflhe governor. 

The matter was finally referred to the attorney-general, 
(Mr. Hail.) who. in his rep«>rt, gave the question a learn- 
ed and lalM>rious examination, and arrived at the ciuiclu- 
sion that Mr. Morris could not he justified in the course 
he had taken. 

The senate, by a party vote, concurred in this ojiinion, 
and Mr. .M>irris was removed from, and Mr. Tallmadge 
apjwinted to, the office of recorder of the city of New 
York. 

As a citizen and as a social companion, there are few 
men in this or any other ct)mmunity, that p«issess more 
estimable <|ualilies than FREnKRirK A. T.ali.m.miue. No 
man can a.ssociate with him without being delighted and 
charmed with the lil>erality of his sentiments, his courte- 
sy, and his s(X'ial qualities ; i)ut his consistency and in- 
tegrity as a jiolitician has W'eu questioned.* We may, 
however, assert with confidence, that no man could ac- 
quire and preserve the regard and esteem, and we may 
say clevotion, of S4j many j>ersonal friends as Mr. Tall- 
madixe has done, without possessing many gocxi qualities 
of head and heart. 

With resjH'ct to Mr. Morris we feel hound to say, 
without expressing or intending to express, and we may 
in sincerity add, without having formed any opinion 
whether his conduct in relation to the Glentworth jiapers 
did or did not require his removal from office, that he 

• 2 Political History. 

19 



218 POLITICAL HISTORY Ol' NEW YORK. [l841. 

was and is a nian of ardent temperament, zealous in the 
pursuit of whatever he deems right ; a lawyer <jf con- 
siderable legal learning ; and, what is rather unusual, al- 
though a reputable lawyer, that he is a man of genius. 
Next to William C. Bryant, in the city of New York, 
stands Robert H. Morris. 

He was removed in February, and in May following 
was elected mayor of New York by a large majority. 
This result could not have occurred if all, or any consid- 
erable portion of the citizens of that city, had believed 
that he had wilfully acted wrong as recorder. 

That a vile and base fraud was attempted, and had in 
1838 been perpetrated by Glentworth and his associates, 
there cannot now be a doubt. He endeavored to impli- 
cate M. H. Grinnell, R. C. Wetmore, E. Curtis, and 
other highly respectable whig citizens, as concerned with 
him in this nefarious transaction, and the democratic 
press of that day of course countenanced the allegations 
of Glentworth. But Mr. Grinnell and others, on oath, 
denied any participation in the fraud. On the other 
hand, the whigs charged on the democrats that for years 
past they had, in the city of New York in particular, by 
management and fraud, obtained many illegal votes from 
foreigners not naturalized, and by other means equally 
unlawful and unjustifiable. It is probably too true that 
unprincipled and reckless electioneerers of both parties 
may have smuggled into the ballot-boxes votes which 
ouffht not to have been received ; but that such men as 
Moses H. Grinnell, and others named as his associates, on 
the whig side, or any of the respectable members of the 
democratic party on the other, have in our most excited 
elections countenanced or connived at frauds in our elec- 
tions, we do not believe. The evil, if it has existed, has 



1841.] CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 211) 

been confined to a very limited extent, and it is believed 
that the plan which has lately been adopted of dividing 
towns and wards into small election districts, has provi- 
ded an edectual guard against lho.se frauds which, if 
permitted, would in a short time disgrace and demolish 
that system of self-government which every American 
patriot so highly values, and which has justly rendered 
us the admiration of the world. 

A select committee was appointed, to whom that part 
of the message of the governor was referred which rela- 
ted to capital jiunishment. Air. O'Sullivan of New York, 
the distinguished editor of the Democratic Review, was 
chairman of that committee. This was a subject, the 
importance of which had long been strongly impressed on 
the benevolent and sensitive mind oi Mr. O'Sullivan. and 
he entered upon the duties of his station with anxious so- 
licitude to jjrocure the passage of a law to abolish the 
deatli penalty. After his ap|)ointment he oixjneil a cor- 
respondence with intelligent men in alnu)st every county 
in the state, and to his report, which he made to the as- 
sembly oil the sixteenth <lay of Aj)ril, which was decided- 
ly in favor of the abolition of caj)ital punishment, he 
annexed the communications of sundry eminent individ- 
uals who expressed themselves favorable to the measure, 
and detailed a variety of facts tending to show that capi- 
tal punishment, instead of diminishing the number of 
murders, increa.sed them. Mr. OSullivan, in his rejiort, 
endeavored to jirove, and, in our opinion, did prove, that 
the notion that the divine law enjoined capital jmnish- 
ment was not well founded ; that the infliction of death 
prevented the accomplishment of one great object of pun- 
ishment — the reformation of the oflender ; that the dilfer- 
ence in the crime and guilt of premeditated murder — for 



220 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

instance, by the waylayer — and the case of killing from 
the impulse of sudden excitement, and in various other 
cases where malice is iynplied by the existing law, was 
immense, and yet by law the punishment was the same ; 
that the execution of the accused put it out of the power 
to correct errors (which had frequently happened) of 
erroneous convictions of the innocent ; and that the ta- 
king away the lives of men was a relict of the barbarism 
ot the dark ages, at war with Christianity and with the 
humanity, refinement, and intelligence of the present age 
of the world. 

His conclusion therefore was, that capital punishment 
ought to be abolished, and imprisonment at hard labor 
substituted in lieu of it ; and that in cases now by law 
punishable with death, the pardoning power should be 
taken from the governor. 

This report seemed to be well received by the assem- 
bly and by the public, but action upon it was from time 
to time procrastinated, until within two days of the ter- 
mination of the session. Mr. Simmons, in a set speech, 
when Mr. O'SuUivan's bill came before the house, op- 
posed it, notwithstanding which, it passed to a third read- 
ing by a vote of fifty-seven to fifty-two ; but when the 
question was taken on its final passage, it was lost, fifty- 
two being against it (the same number of votes which 
was cast against its engrossment) and only forty-six in 
its favor. We regret to perceive among the names of 
the members w^ho voted against the bill, those of Sim- 
mons, Hoffman, and Worden. However inconsistent it 
may seem, and however strange it may appear, the 
ministers of religion, the special ambassadors of that Be- 
ing whose mission to this world was to save life, not to 
destroy it, very zealously opposed the abolition of the 



1841.] CHARArTFR OF JOHN C. 8PENCER. 221 

death puiiisluniiit , and we have be*in told by Mr. O'Sul- 
livan hiiiiseh, that about tlic time his bill came under con- 
sideration, many clergymen were in the lobby ol the house, 
and that he verily U'lieved that their influence prevented 
the passage of the bill. It will be |)erceived that fifty- 
two voted against passing the bill to a third reading, and 
that there were only fifty-two votes against its final pas- 
sage, while but f(»rty-si.\ voted for it. The inference 
seems very plausible, that eleven of the fifty-seven mem- 
bers who voted for the alj<»lition of the death [tenalty, 
through some influence which was brought to iK-ar on 
tiieir minds when the final vote was taken, absented them- 
selves from their jilaces in the house. 

Another subject of great im|H)rtance came betore the 
legislature, and was definitively acted upon during the 
pre.><ent session. This was a mfniification of the common 
school law, by providing for the ap|M)intment of a deputy 
su|)erintendent of schools in every countv. Bv the law 
as it then existed, each town was required to elect three 
school-commissioners and three insiK-'Ctors. The.se ofii- 
cers examined teachers, and decided whether they were 
of suflk-ient ability and erudition, and whether as re- 
sjx'Cted their morals they were suitable persons to be 
intrusted with the care of children, and the education of 
the rising generation. 

John C. Spenckr was at that time secretar}- of state. 
and therefore state superintendent of common schools. 
The high character of this gentleman, as one of the most 
le.irne*! lawyers in the state, }X)s.se.ssing clear, logical, and 
nicely discriminating intellectual powers ; his untiring, la- 
borious, and unceasing apjilication ; his unrivalled capacity 
for mental labor, are known and universally admitted. 
To the mighty legal mind of his father, the venerable 

19* 



22*2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

chief-justice, he has added various and extended literary 
acquirements, and read and thoroughly digested all the 
useful productions which have, during the present age, 
issued from the press, both in Europe and America. 
We speak of Mr. Spencer, not as a ])olitician, or as n 
member of a political party, but of his character as a 
lawyer, as a literary man, and his energy and labors as a 
public officer. His active mind pervaded all the depaii- 
ments of the state government. He knew and had an 
agency in all that was done. The impaired health of Mr. 
Cooke, and the inclination and ability of Mr. Spencer for 
active business, drew upon him a considerable share of 
the labors of that important and overloaded department 
over which the comptroller presides. Besides all this, 
Mr. Spencer took a deep interest, and exercised a pow- 
erful influence in all the appointments made by the gov- 
ernor and senate. Mr. Croswell, in the war he was then 
making on the whigs, who then held a majority in all the 
departments of the state government, as we perceive 
from examining the files of the Argus, frequently speaks 
of an individual whom he describes as the " doer of all 
work." We presume he meant by this description to 
designate Mr. Spencer, without naming him. If so, he 
characterized Mr. Spencer more truly than party editors 
generally describe their distinguished political opponents. 
Mr. Spencer put in requisition all his energies to im- 
prove the common-school system. He perceived that it 
was greatly defective ; that many of the town commis- 
sioners and inspectors were incompetent to judge of 
the fitness and requisite qualifications of teachers ; that 
others were not thorough in the performance of their 
duty ; that some intermediate local officer ought to be 
created, to whom the town commissioners might report, 



1841.] COMMON SCHOOLS. 223 

who, I'rorn a personal view, could decide on the propriety 
of altering sciiool districts, or creating new ones — who 
could visit the schools, and admonish, advise, or ap[)laud, 
in relation to the manner of conducting them — who 
should constitute a con)mon depot of information in re- 
spect to the state of education in each county, and 
report the same to the state superintendent — and through 
whom the state superintendent could with certainty com- 
Ujunicate his views to every neighborhood in the state. 

It is true that the author of this work had, at a state 
convention of the friends of popular education held at 
Utica in the year 1837, in a lecture on the school laws, 
delivered on that occasion, suggested the plan of creating 
the office of county superintendent, and had soon alter 
pul)lished a skeleton of his plan in the "Common School 
Journal," then printed at Albany, by J. Orville Taylor. 
But these humble efforts soon ceased to excite public at- 
tention. Like a ripple on the ocean, the movement pro- 
duced by them soon subsided. It required official influ- 
ence, it required the energy of John C. Spencer to rouse 
to efl'ectual action the public mind on this important sub- 
ject, on which indeed the preservation of our liberties 
and civil institutions depend. 

Mr. Sj)encer, on his own motion, in the year 1840, 
appointed in every town in the state, three or tour of its 
most respectable citizens, who were requested personally 
to visit the schools in their respective towns, and report 
to the state superintendent their condition, together with 
such suggestions for their improvement as might occur 
to them. This duty was performed by the visiters with- 
out fee or reward, and full reports made to the supei'in- 
tendent. In these reports there was a remarkable con- 
currence in the opinion of all, or nearly all the visiters. 



224 POLITICAL, HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

who spoke on tlie subject, that the office of county super- 
intendent ought to be created. 

In the early part of the session of 1841, Mr. Spencer 
made his annual report as superintendent of common 
schools, to which he appended the reports he had received 
from the visiters. Mr. S. recommended an amendment 
of the common-school law, so as to authorize the appoint- 
ment of deputy superintendents in each county, upon the 
plan we have intimated, which recommendation he sup- 
ported with his usual ability. 

On the 18-th of January, a petition for the improvement 
indicated by the secretary of state, signed by Mr. Bur- 
net, a highly respectable citizen of Onondaga county, 
was presented and read in the assembly, which, together 
with the report of Mr. Spencer, and the reports of the 
visiters, was referred to the committee on common 
schools, who soon after reported a bill in accordance 
with the views of the state superintendent. There was 
a difference of opinion among the members, whether the 
county superintendents should be appointed by the gov- 
ernor and senate, the regents of the university, the secre- 
tary of state, or the board of supervisors of the respective 
counties ; but the assembly finally gave a preference to 
the latter mode of appointment. The bill, either on ac- 
count of its details, or of the principles contained in it, 
was opposed by Messrs. L. S. Chatfield, Loomis, and 
Simmons, and supported by Mr. A. G. Chatfield, (of 
Steuben, brother of Mr. L. S.,) Doct. Taylor, of Onon- 
daga, and Mr. Duer, Mr. Stoddard, and several other 
members. The bill finally passed the assembly by the 
strong vote of seventy-seven to twenty-one. It was then 
sent to the senate, where it received the cordial and zeal- 
ous support of Gen. Root, and passed that house by 



1841.] FRANCIS DWIGHT. 225 

nearly a unanimous vote. The bill soon after became 
a law. 

The legislature also appropriated the sum of $2,800 to 
be paid to the printer of the Commtfti School Journal, a 
periodical paper, which was entirely devoted to the cause 
of popular education, one copy of which the editor or 
printer was required to send regularly to the clerk of 
every school district in the state. This journal, it was 
expected, would contain, and, as it afterwards appeared, 
did actually contain, all the modern improvements in the 
construction of school-houses and the management and 
government of schools, which time and experience de- 
veloped in this and the other states of the Union. It was 
conducted by Fr.\nci3 Dwight, Esq., a young gentleman 
of fine talents, who came from Ontario county, where 
he had published a paper of a character similar to the one 
he established in Albany. 

We have said, and said truly, that Francis Dwight was 
a man of fine talents, but having mentioned his name we 
ought to say more. A purer and more benevolent heart 
never warmed the human breast than that of Mr. Dwight. 
To him theological and political contests were nothing ; 
but the education of the rising generation and the culti- 
vation and the increase of the mental power of the 
masses were every thing. To advance this darling object 
of his soul he gave up all other pursuits ; and he died, a^ 
he lived, the enthusiastic advocate of popular education, 
and the devoted friend of humanity. 

It is mortifying and painful to state, what the truth of 
history requires us to record, that it is within our per- 
sonal knowledge that the ' trustees of manv school dis- 
tricts refuse to take from the post-office this excellent 
journal, every number of which contains much important 



'2*26 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

and useful informution, the cost of which is paid from the 
state treasury, because they are unwilHug to pay from 
the common funds of their respective districts the sum 
of o7ie shilling a year for postage ! We siiould despond 
and sicken at the prospect before us of human progress, 
did we not cherish the hope that the generation which 
is to succeed us will be influenced by more enlightened, 
liberal, and patriotic considerations. 

In framing this bill, and procuring its passage, Mr. 
Spencer was powerfully aided by his deputy-superintend- 
ent, S. S. Randall, Esq., one of the most worthy and 
excellent of men, who was himself competent to preside 
over any educational bureau in the United States. A 
deep debt of gratitude is due from the people of this state 
to this talented and zealous friend of popular education, 
for his services in that great and good cause. He was 
by profession and in principle a whig, and was brought 
into the department while the government was adminis- 
tered by the whigs ; but Col. Young, notwithstanding, 
when he became secretary of state, retained him in of- 
fice. Mr. Young, it is true, is an ardent politician ; but 
this noble act proves that with him the cause of popular 
education is paramount to all others. It is deeply to be 
regretted that the state of the health of Mr. Randall has 
compelled him to abandon the office, and migrate from 
the state. 

We are well aware that the provision in the school 
laws, for the appointment of county superintendents, 
not long after it went into operation became unpopu- 
lar; that the excitement against it among the people 
continued to increase, until, at the fall session of the 
legislature in 1847, its repeal became inevitable. 

The state treasury pays annually for the support of 



1841.] COMMON SCHOOLS. 227 

common schools nearly $300,000. That something like 
the law which provided for the appointment of county 
superintendents will be found absolutely necessary to se- 
cure the j)rosperity of those schools, and enable them to 
accomplish, in some degree, the object contemplated by 
the founders of the common-school fund, and ensure the 
proper application of the immense amount of money an- 
nually paid from the state treasury for the support of 
popular education, we cannot doubt ; that the law estab- 
lishing county superintendents, at least in theory, prom- 
ised to render our educational system as perfect as it 
could be, consistent with the genius and the government 
and constitution of the state ; and that this law has re- 
ceived the approbation, and indeed the eulogy, of 
the enlightened triends of popular education in every 
state of the Union, no intelligent man will deny. 
Why then did it become unpopular ? Why should the 
masses, who are so deeply interested in the cause it was 
instituted to sustain and advance, have condemned it ? 
It would be out of place to attempt at length a discussion 
of these questions, but we may be permitted briefly to re- 
mark, that in our judgment, there was one defect in the 
law which was the remote cause, principally, of its unpop- 
ularity. The amount of compensation allowed to county 
superintendents was precisely wrong, that is to say, it 
was either too much or too little. An annual salary of 
$1,000 would have called before the board of supervisors 
candidates for the office, of talents, of highly-cultivated 
minds, of elevated morals, and great weight of character ; 
and candidates of this description would generally have 
been appointed. The amount and liberality of the salary 
would have induced the incumbent to make all possible 
rfforts (and who can doubt })ut that they would have been 



228 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEAV YORK. [1841. 

successful ?) to render their services acceptable to the 
community, and to convince the people of the value of 
those services. 

Again, had the salary been restricted, say to $100, no 
man would have sought the office for its emolument, and 
the supervisors would have been left to seek out in each 
county some benevolent man of easy fortune, who was 
willing to devote a portion of his time to the public ser- 
vice in aiding to form, improve, and purify the minds of 
the children and youth of his own county. Now we do 
not even by implication mean to pronounce an unfavor- 
able judgment of the character or qualifications of the 
gentlemen who have filled the office of superintendent in 
the various counties of this state since the year 1841 ; 
we know that many of them were competent and wor- 
thy men, and we have had the means of knowing, for 
the author of these remarks was a county superintendent 
under the law of 1841, for more than six months : nev- 
ertheless, it is due to candor and truth to say, that a sala- 
ry of $500 would not induce a man of even ordinary 
standing in the profession of law or medicine, to aban- 
don his profession ; and clergymen were constitutionally 
illegible. Retired gentlemen, whose pecuniary condition 
rendered them regardless of the amount of compensation, 
would not enter into an electioneering competition with 
young men who eagerly sought the office for temporary 
convenience. The candidates, therefore, generally were 
either young men who resorted to this employment to 
enable them to procure the means of prosecuting (in the 
mean lime, perhay)s) their professional studies, merchants 
who had failed in business, and who required a year or 
two to look around for other employment, or men who 
had been unsuccessful in their i)rofessions, and were un- 



1841.] Harrison's inauguration. 229 

able or unwillingr to labor for a livelihood. With such 
candidates, urging conflicting claims to the boards of su- 
pervisors, is it wonderful that those boards should have 
sometimes selected men illy calculated to execute the 
law of 1841 according to its spirit and intent? 

On the 4th of March, President Harrison, in presence 
of an immense audience, took the oath of office, and de- 
livered his inaugural speech. Addresses on such occa- 
sions generally contain little else but a reiteration of gen- 
eral propositions affirming self-evident truths, admitted by 
every one to be such, and professions of honesty and 
patriotism. The only remarks which strike us as new in 
the speech are, that the general avows that he is in favor 
of confining the duration of the office of president to a 
single term, and declares that " under no circumstances" 
will he be a candidate for a re-election. He also protests 
against the interference of the president with the officers 
of the treasury, and pledges himself that he will not re- 
move a secretary of the treasury without evidence of 
palpable mal-conduct, and under the advisement of con- 
gress. It was not singular that Gen. Harrison should 
express his apprehension of danger of a violation of the 
constitution, and the ultimate overthrow of our civil in- 
stitutions bv means of the increasing and inordinate in- 
fluence of the president, and the encroachment of the 
executive on the other departments of the government. 
All our presidents have, with great apparent concern, ex- 
pressed similar apprehensions, and warned the people to 
be on their guard against the unconstitutional exercise of 
executive power, and the more dangerous influence of 
executive patronage ; and yet we are much mistaken if, 
from the time of the presidency of Gen. Washington 
down to that of Col. Polk, every individual who has oc- 

20 



230 I'OLITICAL HIriTORY OF NEiV YOUK. [l841. 

cupied thut high station, has not steadily and systematic- 
ally seized every plausible occasion to add to the power 
and patronage of the executive department of the nation. 
This naturally, and perhaps necessarily, results from the 
constitution of man, and from the frame of our govern- 
ment. Gen. Harrison's inaugural speech, however, does, 
so far as a speech on such occasions can, aflbrd evidence 
of what in truth he possessed, a kind and patriotic heart, 
and a liberal mind. A correspondent of the Journal of 
Commerce, who appears to have been a political friend 
of the general, writing from Washington under date of 
the 4th of March, rather sarcastically says : 

" I have no doubt this speech, as it appears, is the gen- 
eral's own. Mr. Webster or Mr. Ewing, had their taste 
been consulted, would not have put so much about Greece 
and Rome in it. It shows, however, his honest, benevo- 
lent, and truly republican character." 

The new senate, which contained a whig majority, 
was immediately organized. John Tyler, the vice-presi- 
dent elect, was in due form conducted to the chair as its 
presiding officer, and delivered a brief address, which met 
the approbation and received the applause of all who 
heard it. 

Soon after the senate had organized, the president sent 
in his nominations for cabinet officers. They consisted 
of the following gentlemen : 

Daniel Webster, Secretary of State. 

Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury. 

John Bell, of Tennessee, Secretary of War 

George E. Badger, of North Carolina, Secretary of the 
Navy. 

John J. Crittenden, Attorney-general. 

Francis Granger, Postmaster-general. 



1841.] iMR. WRIGHT IN THE U. S. SENATE. 231 

These nominations were confirmed by the senate with- 
out serious opposition. Mr. Webster received a unani- 
mous vote. 

Mr. Wright, whom we have long neglected during this 
great i)olitical revolution, with that philosophical calm- 
ness of mind j^eculiar to him, pursued quietly the even 
tenor of his way. Courteous to all, he manifested no 
restlessness, mortification, or irritability. No unkind re- 
mark escaped him. Once, indeed, when Mr. Crittenden, 
of Kentucky, in the course of rather an excited speech, 
in which he alluded in triumph to the changes in the 
senate which had left the democratic party in the minor- 
ity, charged them with sneering at the measures proposed 
by the majority, instead of showing, by grave and sound 
arguments, that those measures were wrong, Mr. Wright, 
in replying to him, admitted, tliat if .such course had been 
pursued by the minority, it was unjustifiable ; " but," said 
Mr. W., " while it is wrong for the minority to sneer, it 
does not become the majority to swagger." This rebuke, 
though unquestionably just on that occasion, was better 
deserved by'some other meujbers than Mr. Crittenden, 
who was generally exceedingly courteous and gentleman- 
ly in debate. After the vote was taken on Mr. Web- 
ster's nomination, Mr. Wright advanced to him, and ta- 
king him by the hand in a manner the most cordial, com- 
plimented his great rival on his appointment as secretary. 
Little minds are malignant and envious at the success of 
a rival ; great minds are not subject to the control of 
those debasing passions. Little minds are inflated and 
insolent when successful over their opponents ; the truly 
great are neither elated by success nor depressed by de- 
feat. 

The pressure upon Gen. Harrison for appointments 



232 POI.rTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

was extreme. It came from every part of this great 
country. Candidates crowded the city of Washington, 
and the president's house was literally besieged with 
eager applicants for office. This, under the circum- 
stances of the case, was not remarkable. The federalists, 
ever since the election of Mr. Jefferson, in 1801, had 
been generally excluded from office, except during the 
four years' administration of Mr. J. Q. Adams, when 
they enjoyed a small portion of the national patronage. 
Upon the formation of the whig party, in 1828, a large 
majority of the federalists became members of the new 
party. All who had supported the election of INIr. Har- 
rison, now made equal claims, without regard to the old 
distinctions and party lines, on the patronage at the dis- 
posal of Gen. Harrison. These numerous applications 
must have pressed hard upon the kind and generous mind 
of the president, and occasioned deep and painful anx- 
iety. Many believe that his extreme mental agitation 
shortened his days. " Uneasy lies the head that Avears a 
crown." 

Shortly after his inauguration, the presid*ent issued a 
proclamation calling an extra session on the 31st day of 
May then next. It bore date on the 17th day of March; 
but by a decree of an inscrutable Providence, the general 
was not to live to see that day. In the latter part of 
March, while engaged, as was his habit, in a long walk, 
he was overtaken by a rain, accompanied with a severe 
cold wind, by which he caught a cold, which induced a 
pleuretic disease, of which he died on the 4th day of April, 
eight days after the attack. He possessed a hale and 
vigorous constitution, and was then but a few months 
over the age of sixty years. His disease therefore, in 
order to have made so rapid a progress to its fatal termi- 



1841.] DEATH OF GEN. HABRI30N. 233 

nation, must have been oi' the most acute kind. Thus, 
within a single month after he entered the capitol of the 
nation accompanied with the congratulations of an im- 
mense concourse of his fellow-citizens, and commenced 
performing the duties of his high and exalted office, he 
was numbered with the dead. 

It is well said by a late writer,* that " the shouts of the 
multitude, the swelling notes of martial music, the waving 
plumes, and the gay trappings, gave place to the mourn- 
ful lamentation, the low tones of the murtled dmm, the 
black j)all, and the funeral hearse. The opening of the 
month was bright and cheering — its close was dark and 
dreary. It was like a day in the early spring. The sun 
rose in joy and gladness, in its unclouded majesty and 
splendor — it set in sorrow and gloom." 

The deep and anxious interest which this good man 
felt in the civil institutions and prosperity of his country, 
is evinced by the last words he was heard to utter. 

Shortly before he expired, his mental powers became 
confused, and he was partially deranged. In that condi- 
tion he thought only of his country ; and the manner in 
which the government would be administered by his suc- 
cessor, pressed hard upon his mind. Ilis attending phy- 
sician, Doct. Worthington, was standing by his bedside. 
By a species of mental illusion, incident to the state in 
which he then was, the president evidently imagined him 
to be Mr. Tyler. " Sir," said he, addressing the doc- 
tor, " I wish you to understand the true principles of the 
government — / wish them carried out — I ask nothing 

MORE." 

All eyes were now anxiously turned upon Mr. Tyler. 

* Mr. Jenkins. 
20* 



234 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

In what manner he would administer the government, was 
now a subject of earnest inquiry and intense curiosity 
Many, and we confess we were among the number, be- 
lieved that his poHtical course would be in accordance 
with the views of Mr. Clay, and in fact that the new 
administration would in reality be a Clay administration. 
Tliis belief was founded on the fact, that while Mr. Ty- 
ler was in the United States senate with Mr. Clay, it 
was generally understood that IMr. C. was his favorite. 
It is certain he was his file-leader. AttheHarrisburgh 
convention, held by the whigs in 1840, for nominating 
a candidate for president, Mr. Tyler was a member, and 
an ardent supporter of Mr. Clay in preference to Gen. 
Harrison. After the latter was nominated by a majority 
of voices, in order to conciliate the friends of Mr. Clay, 
the majority determined to select one of his most zealous 
friends as candidate for vice-president, and with that view 
they fixed upon Mr. Tyler. The opinion we have men- 
tioned was founded on these circumstances. The event 
proved that we were entirely mistaken. 

The extra congress convened in pursuance of the call, 
on the 31st of May, and after the organization of the 
house of representatives, by the choice of Mr. White of 
Kentucky for speaker, the message of Mr. Tyler was 
read. It contained nothing from which it could be in- 
ferred that he would vary from the general principles of 
the whigs or their policy, except some expressions which 
seemed to indicate that he was opposed to the incorpora- 
tion of a bank, vested with the powers and immunities 
of the late Bank of the United States. He recommend- 
ed the repeal of the sub-treasury law, and intimated that 
0. fiscal agency, as he termed it, might be established as a 
substitute for a chartered bank. On the whole, his mes- 



1841.] CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 235 

sage left the public as much in the dark as to his future 
course, as they were before its delivery. 

In the senate, Mr. Clay was made chairman of the 
finance committee in the place of Mr. Wright. Both 
houses proceeded with great expedition ; and nine days 
from the commencement of the session, a bill was passed 
repealing the sub-treasury law, all the democratic mem- 
bers of course voting against it. 

A general bankrupt bill was passed, against the vigor- 
ous opposition of Mr. Wright. This bill received the 
approbation of the president, and became a law in the 
month of August. 

Mr. Clay also introduced a bill for the distribution of 
the avails of the land sales among the several states. 
This bill lingered long in the senate ; the treasury was 
embarrassed, and it had become necessary either to con- 
tinue the practice of issuing treasury notes, or to raise 
by loan several millions of dollars. It was contended 
that so large a portion of the revenue as was derived 
from the land sales, could not at that time be spared 
without great inconvenience. The effect would be to 
render it necessary to raise the tariff of duties on impor- 
tations, in order to defray the current expenses of the gov- 
ernment, a measure which, it was alleged, the people were 
by no means prepared to a{)prove. These vicvvs were 
presented by Mr. Wright with so much tact and address, 
that he succeeded in obtaining several whig votes in sup- 
port of an amendment offered by him, which provided 
that no distribution should be made at any time when 
the average rate of duties should exceed twenty per cent. 
The amendment was adopted, and in that form the bill 
passed. 

All intelligent men saw that either something like the 



236 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 

sub-treasury scheme must be established, or a bank must 
be chartered. The whig party, and especially Mr. Clay, 
was very desirous to pass a law to charter a national 
bank. With Mr. Clay this was a fondly-cherished and 
most favored measure. From the outgivings of Mr. Ty- 
ler in his first message, and on other occasions, serious 
apprehensions were entertained that he would veto a bank 
bill ; and the jealousy of the whigs of the fidelity of Mr. 
Tyler to their party, which commenced soon after the 
death of Gen. Harrison, was increased by these appre- 
hensions. The bill for chartering a bank was introduced 
by Mr. Clay, and passed the senate and the house of rep- 
resentatives in the month of August. It is hardly necessary 
to add that it was opposed by Mr. Wright, and the demo- 
cratic members of both houses generally. The president 
retained the bill for several days after it came into his pos- 
session, but finally, on the 16th day of August, he sent a 
message to the senate vetoing the bill. All doubts were 
then removed : " the long agony," as some of the whig 
newspapers announced, " was over." The position of Mr. 
Tyler was now known. He had, in opposition to the 
unanimous advice of the very able cabinet which had 
been formed by Gen. Harrison, defeated by his single act 
a most lavorite measure of the party which elected him. 
But probably, partly for the purpose of placing Mr. Tyler 
clearly in the wrong, in the view of all his whig friends, 
a member from Pennsylvania introduced a bill into the 
house ol" representatives for the creation of what was de- 
nominated a " Fiscal Bank." This bill was divested of 
some of the features which were contained in the first, 
and which Mr. Tyler in his veto message had pointed out 
as objectionable. This last bill passed both houses by a 
party vote, and was sent to the president, who on the 9th 



1841.] MR. Tyler's cabinet. 237 

of September vetoed it. The whig party now openly 
declared war against him. The cabinet was dissolved : 
all its members retired, except Mr. Webster, who was 
induced to remain. Mr. Tyler thereupon nominated 
Walter Forward, secretary of the treasury ; John M'Lean, 
secretary of war ; A. P. Upshur, secretary of the navy ; 
Charles A. Wickliffe, postmaster-general; and Hugh H. 
Legare, attorney-general. These nominations were all 
confirmed by the senate. Judge M'Lean declined the 
appointment of secretary of war, and thereupon John C. 
Spencer, of this state, was appointed to that office. Mr. 
Spencer, it is said, felt some embarrassment in accepting 
the appointment, because the whig state committee had 
lately called a convention, and in the printed call hjid 
denounced with severity the conduct of Mr. Tyler. He, 
however, did accept the proffered appointment. We re- 
mark, in passing, that Mr. Spencer carried with him to 
Washington all that energy of conduct and habit, of per- 
severing and indomitable labor, for which he was distin- 
guished, so that, as far as related to what may strictly be 
called the business concerns of government, he was the 
life and soul of the administration of which he was a 
member. 

In these revolutions and counter-revolutions at Wash- 
ington, Mr. Wright took no part. He neither favored 
the Clay whigs, or Tyler whigs, or Tyler democrats, (and 
indeed there were very few of the two latter classes,) but 
he kept on the same unvarying course he had pursued 
during Mr. Van Buren's administration, and acted and 
voted on all questions according to his sense of right and 
sound policy, without any regard to the storms of faction 
that were howling around him. 

At the July term held this year in the city of Utica the 



238 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [lS41. 

case of Alexander M'Leod came on to be heard on a re- 
turn to a \\Tit of habeas corpus. This case had produced 
much excitement in the western parts of the state, and in 
the province of Canada. It had been the subject of con- 
siderable correspondence between the governments of the 
United States and Great Britain, and had excited the at- 
tion of the American congress and the British parlia- 
ment. We shall therefore attempt to give a brief history 
of it. 

In a preceding volume* we have given some account 
of the insurrection in Canada, in 1837, and of the persons 
from the United States who, under the name of patriots, 
joined the insurgents. 

In December, a body of Americans to the number of 
some two or three hundred, with Rensselaer ^'an Rens- 
selaer for their leader, took possession of an island in the 
Niagara river, claimed by the British, situate between 
Lewiston, in the state of New York, and Chippewa, on 
the Canada shore. This party were furnished with 
arms and munitions of war, and employed themselves oc- 
casionally by firing cannon-shot into the village and 
among the inhabitants of Chippewa. They held forcible 
possession of the island till some time in January follow- 
ing. For the protection of the inhabitants, and in order 
to repel these attacks, the British government called out a 
military force, amounting, as was alleged, to 2,500 men, 
which was stationed at Chippewa, and commanded by 
Col. Allan McXabb. A steamer called the Caroline, 
owned by Mr. Wells of Buffalo, it was asserted, had been 
chartered by the party at Navy Island, to ply between 
Schlosser, near Lewiston. and the island, for the purpose 



• See '2 Political Historj-, p. 487. 



1841.] CASE OF m'leod. 239 

of transporting from the state of New York provisions, 
ammunition, and men to the island, for the aid and sup- 
port of the assailants of Chippewa and the insurgents in 
Canada. It was, however, insisted, by the owner of the 
Caroline, that she w as to be employed to carry freight 
between Buffalo and Schlosser, and to be used as a feiTy- 
boat only between Schlosser and Navy Island. It is, 
nevertheless, certain that she did carry some arms and 
military stores to the occupants of the island, and that in 
the afternoon of the 29th of December she made two or 
three trips between the island and Schlosser. On that 
evening Col. McNabb fitted out an expedition of several 
small boats, manned with armed men from Chippewa, 
who were commanded to seize by force the Caroline, 
wherever she could be found, and bring her into Chippe- 
wa, or destroy her. The party proceeded to execute the 
commands of Col. McNabb, and found the boat fastened 
to the dock at Schlosser, and there made a hostile attack 
upon her by sword.s and fire-arms, and finally got her in 
their possession, towed hei- into the stream, and left her 
to float down the Niagara Falls. This transaction oc- 
curred about midnight ; and during the atTray, one James 
Durfee, a hand employed to manage the Caroline, was 
shot through the head by a pistol or musket ball, and 
found dead on the next morning. 

Alexander M'Leod re.sided at or near Chippewa, and 
was in the habit of visiting Buffalo and Lewiston, and 
other places on the Niagara frontier. In the early part 
of January, 1841, he was in the county of Niagara, and 
there in comi)any with some American citizens, and prob- 
ably excited by pa.ssion or stimulating liquor, declared 
that he was one of the party who seized the Caroline, and 
that he himself shot Durfee. After this public declara- 



240 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. []84I. 

tion, a warrant for his apprehension on a charge of mur- 
der was issued, on which he was arrested and committed 
to the jail at Lockport. M'Leod, finding the matter be- 
coming thus serious, appHed by his counsel to be admit- 
ted to bail, and the officer to whom the application was 
made, granted it. The people of Lockport hearing of this 
decision, and that M'Leod was to be permitted to go at 
large, became highly excited and indignant. They rushed 
to the courthouse, and there formed themselves into a 
meeting for the purpose of protesting against the dis- 
charge of M'Leod from imprisonment on any terms. The 
two citizens who had become his bail became intimida- 
ted, and the judge rescinded the order he had made ad- 
mitting the prisoner to bail. The proceedings are de- 
scribed by a writer from Lockport, who evidently is 
disposed to represent things as favorable to the inhabit- 
ants of the village as could in any way be reconciled to 
truth, in the following manner : 

"LccKPORT, Jan. 28, 1841. 
"Gentlemen : — M'Leod was yesterday admitted to bail 
by one of our judges, before whom his last examination 
was held, by whom he was committed. Some excite- 
ment among our citizens was the consequence. A meet- 
ing was held at the courthouse yesterday morning, which 
was adjourned over until this evening. Two of our citi- 
zens had become M'Leod's sureties, after having been 
indemnified to the amount of the bail, 85,000. A very 
large majority of those who composed the meeting to- 
day, disapproved of the proceeding of admitting to bail, 
and a disposition was manifested to strongly censure those 
who had suffered their names to be used for that pur- 
pose^ 



1841.] m'leod's case. 241 

" One of the bondsmen came before the meeting upon an 
invitation conveyed to him by a committee of tlie meet- 
ing, and made a frank and satisfactory statement of the 
motives which had actuated hiin, at the same time ex- 
pressing his willingness to withdraw from the position he. 
had assumed, after the demonstration he had witnessed of 
popular feeling upon the subject. It is due to this gentle- 
man to add, that in this step he was evidently not intimi- 
dated by any apprehension of personal consequences, but 
it rather seemed on his part a concession of what he con- 
sidered due to a public sentiment. M'Leod was yet in 
custody, the legal process not having yet been served up- 
on the sherilT. The proceeding of admitting to bail, so 
far as it had gone, was rescinded. 

" While the meeting was in session, a process was put 
in the hands of the sheriff against M'Leod, requiring bail 
to the amount of «7,0U0. It is the commencement of 
a suit brought by Mr. Wells, the owner of the Caroline, 
for private damages ; so that the amount of bail now re- 
quired to give him his liberty, would be $12,000." 

As soon as the arrest and imjirisonment of M'Leod 
came to the knowledge of the British government, it de- 
clared that it fully recognised the act of the seizure of the 
Caroline, and w^as responsible for the consequences which 
might result from it. On the 12th of March, Mr. Fox, the 
envoy of Great Britain, residing at Washington, officially 
communicated this avowal of his government to Mr. 
Webster, then secretary of state, and formally repeated a 
demand he had before made on the government of the 
United States that M'Leod should be immediately re- 
leased. 

Mr. Webster, in his reply, explained to Mr. Fox 

21 



242 POLITICAL. HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

that the national government had no legal authority to 
interfere with the judicial proceedings of an independent 
state ; but if we rightly recollect, (for we have not Mr. 
Webster's letter before us,) he admitted that the proper 
authority, under the circumstances, ought to discharge 
M'Leod. The secretary stated that the case was un- 
der the control of the Supreme Court of the state of 
New York, and he strongly intimated his expectation 
that they would take the same view of it which he did. 
In the mean time M'Leod had been indicted for the 
murder of Durfee by a grand-jury of the county of Ni- 
agara. 

In this state, the case came before the Supreme Court 
at Utica. The cause was argued by A. Bradley and J. 
A. Spencer, then district-attorney of the United States 
for the northern district of New York, on the part of 
M'Leod, and by Mr. Hall, the attorney-general, in behalf 
of the people. 

The court held the case under advisement for some 
time, but at length Judge Cowen delivered an elaborate 
opinion, which occupies 47 octavo pages in the first vol- 
ume of Hill's Reports,* in which he arrived at the con- 
clusion, that M'Leod ought not to be discharged from 
imprisonment until he should be tried by a jury of the 
country. 

It is not our intention to attempt to present even the 
outlines or skeleton *of the arguments of the learned 
judge ; much less do we feel authorized to criticise or 
condemn it. We must, however, take the liberty of 
saying, that according to the limited and superficial 
views we had been able to take of the case, the decision 



* See 1 Hill, 377. 



1841.] JUDGE co\vl:c'3 opinion. 213 

of Justice Cowen struck us with surprise and astonish- 
ment. 

We knew that a state of war might exist between two 
nations, or the people of two nations, without having 
been declared by either. We had supposed that actual 
war existed between the Canadian government and the 
insurgents, and those who aided them : that in sup- 
pressing the insurrection and repelling invasion, the 
British had a right to use military force : that the 
military officer in command has a right to direct a sub- 
ordinate or j)rivate to perform such acts as in his judg- 
ment may be necessary for defence against, or annoy- 
ance of, an enemy : that the subordinate and private 
are bound to, obey such order : that if, in the execu- 
tion of it, the rights of a neutral power are violated, such 
neutral power may resist, and prevent by force such 
violation, or it may demand indemnity and satisfaction 
of the nation whose officer has violated its neutral 
rights. That the rule of law that would subject MLeod 
to trial and execution, would lead to this most palpable 
absurdity : — if M'Leod had refused to obey the orders 
of McNabb, recognised as they were by the highest au- 
thority in Canada and in England, he would have 
been liable to be tried by a court-martial in Canada, 
and shot. If he obeyed, he was liable, five years after- 
wards, to be seized in the state of New York, tried by a 
jury, and hung. Is there, can there be any escape from 
this absurdity ? 

It is said the other justices, Nelson and Bronson, 
yielded reluctantly to, instead of really concurring in, 
the opinion of Judge Cowen. 

Justice Cowen was not only a learned and able, but a 
strictly honest judge. How, then, could he arrive at so 



244 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

strange a conclusion ? The judge was an acquaintance 
and friend of Mr. Papineau, late speaker of the assem- 
bly in Lower Canada, and who, though a very worthy 
man, was a leader of the malecontents, and finally, with 
his son, fled from Canada to the United States. The 
generous heart of Justice Co wen sympathized with the 
exile ; and the son, who though an alien, was, by special 
act of the legislature, admitted an attorney of the Su- 
preme Court, was a peculiar favorite of Judge C. May 
not these circumstances have impressed on the pure and 
honest mind of Justice Cowen, of course without being 
himself aware of it, a feeling calculated to create a bias, 
which would render his mental action less free and clear 
on any question relating to the Canadian insurrection, 
than on most others ? 

The opinion of Judge Cowen was reviewed by Judge 
Tallmadge, of the Superior Court of New York, with 
great learning and ability. To the correctness of the 
reasoning and conclusions of Mr. Tallmadge, several of 
the most distinguished lawyers and jurists in the United 
States bore full and ample testimony in their letters ad- 
dressed to him on the subject, which have since been 
published with a second edition of the review.* Chan- 
cellor Kent, in a note to the author, says : 

" It [the review] is very ably executed. It is clear, 
precise, neat, logical, accurate, and entirely conclusive 
on every point. I should have been proud if I had been 
the author of it." 

Chief-justice Spencer, in a letter of some length to 
Judge Tallmadge, expresses his most decided approba- 
tion of the doctrines advocated in the review. Robert 



* See ae Wendell, 663. 



1841.] m'leod's trial, 245 

Minot Sherman, of the vSupreme Court of Connecticut ; 
John Bannister Gibson, chief-justice of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania, and M. C. Rogers, judge of the 
same court ; Simon Greenleaf, LL.D., the learned pro- 
fessor of law in Harvard University ; Daniel Webster, 
John Duer, an eminent counsellor of New York, Theron 
Metcalf, law reporter in ^lassachusetts, and Messrs. 
Berrian, Huntington, Clayton, Crittenden, and Choate, 
members of the senate of the United States, all by writ- 
ten communications declared entire concurrence in the 
views expressed by Judge Tallmadge. 

The review of Judge Tallmadge was itself reviewed 
by Mr. Hill, the reporter of the oi)inions of the New 
York Supreme Court, in doing which he defended the 
opinion of Judge Cowen, of course, with much skill, 
learning, and ability.* 

Oil account of the preconceived opinions on the mer- 
its of the case of M'Leod, which it was supposed had 
been formed in the county of Niagara, his trial, by a 
special order, was directed to be held in the county of 
Oneida. It came on before Judge Gridley of the fifth 
district. We have reason to know that that able law- 
yer and excellent judge did not, in his individual opin- 
ion, concur with Judge Cowen ; but nevertheless, he 
conducted the trial, as he should have done, on the prin- 
ciple that the decision of the Supreme Court, as delivered 
by Judge Cowen, was the law of the land, leaving to 
the accused, in case of his conviction by the jury, to 
pursue his defence by an appeal to the Supreme Court 
of the United States. The trial continued several 
days, and was of course ably conducted, the attorney- 

• See Appendix to 3 Hill, 635. 
21* 



216 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

general, Hall, being counsel for the people, and Joshua 
A. Spencer for the prisoner. After a long and tedious 
examination of witnesses, it turned out that M'Leod had 
nothing to do with the killing of Durfee.* It appeared 
that he had foolishly boasted of doing an act in which 
he was not at all concerned ; he was proved to be a 
swaggerer, but not a homicide ; and the jury, after a 
very brief deliberation, brought in a verdict of not guilty. 
Thus ended an affair which at one time threatened to 
produce a war, with all its attendant calamities, between 
two great and friendly nations. 

In the month of August, William Kent, the only son 
bf Chancellor Kent, an able and accomplished lawyer, 
was appointed circuit judge of the first circuit, that of- 
fice having become vacant by the disability of Judge 
Edwards, who, on account of his age, could no longer 
constitutionally discharge its functions. This was one 
of the best appointments made by Gov. Seward. Con- 
stant in his application to business, affable and kind in 
his deportment, candid and impartial in his decisions, 
and deeply learned in the law, Mr. Kent deservedly 
obtained the respect and confidence and the love and 
regard of the members of the bar, and the public in 
general. It is much to be regretted that ill health re- 
quired him so soon to retire from the New York judi- 
ciary, of which he was one of its brightest ornaments. 

Mr. Bates Cooke, who, upon resigning the office of 
comptroller, was appointed bank commissioner, died 
this year. He was one of the leading and most efii- 



* M'Leod, in his aflBdavit, on which he applied to be discharged on the 
writ of habeas corpus, swore that he was not even with the party sent out 
by M'Nabb to destroy the Caroline. 



1841.] DEMOCRATIC TRIUMPH. 247 

cient antimasons of the West, during the prevalence of 
the excitement against masonry, and was elected, we 
believe, more than once, a member of congress by anti- 
masonic votes. We had no personal acquaintance with 
Mr. Cooke, but have every reason to believe he was a 
sound-minded and estimable man. 

The election in November resulted in the complete 
and unexpected triumph of the democratic party. We 
say unexpected, because, although calculating men on 
both sides anticipated the election of a democratic ma- 
jority of the members of the assembly, the senate being 
a permanent body, and the whig majority in that house 
in 1841 being quite large, few men before the election 
entertained the opinion that there would be a change of 
political power in that branch of the legislature so early 
as the year 1842. 

This great change may have been produced from 
some or all of the following causes: — A considerable 
number of the more reflecting portion of the commu- 
nity viewed with apprehension and alarm the rapid 
accumulation of the state debt, occasioned by the ex- 
penditure of four millions of dollars a year in enlar^in"' 
the Erie and in constructing the Genesee Valley and 
Black River canals. It was true this expenditure had 
been authorized in 1838, as well by a democratic senate 
as a whig assembly ; yet it was well known that Col. 
Young in the senate, and Mr. Flagg and other leading 
democrats, not members of the legislature, were warmly 
opposed to those measures ; and previous to the elec- 
tion of 1841, the democratic newspapers with great 
unanimity denounced the policy of increasing the public 
debt, and loudly demanded a retrenchment of expendi- 
tures. 



248 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

Although Gov. Seward was popular among the mass 
of his party, there was a considerable number of whigs, 
possessing much influence in consequence of their 
wealth and standing in society, who thought the gov- 
ernor too radical in some of his political notions ; and 
the under-curi'ent these individuals put in motion per- 
sonally against Mr. Seward, interrupted and checked 
the vigorous action of the whig party, even in the choice 
of members of the legislature. 

The defection, or, as it was called, treachery of Mr. 
Tyler, wrested from the whig party in the state of New 
York the control of the national patronage. They had 
gained the battle, but the fruits of the conquest were 
snatched from them in the moment of victory. This 
prostration of their hopes and expectations discouraged 
and disheartened many whigs, who lately had been ac- 
tive and zealous, and paralyzed their efforts, while the 
same events induced their opponents to act with re- 
newed vigor and energy. 



1842.] MKMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 249 



CHAPTER XI. 

Levi S. Chatfield chosen Speaker of the As-sembly — Unusual number of 
men of talents this year elected Members of that House — Isaac R. El- 
wood chosen Clerk of the Senate — Gov. Seward's Messaire — Comptrol- 
ler's Report — Dispute between the Governor and Senate on the Bill for 
the Repeal of the Law in relation to the Receivers of Insolvent Banks 
— Caucus for nominating^ State Officers — A. C. Flagrg, Comptroller, S. 
Yonngf, Serrplary of State. Geortre P. Barker, Attorney-sjeueral, Thom- 
as Fiirrinirton, Treasurer, Nathaniel Jones, Surveyor-general — Canal 
Conmiissioners — Debates in the Senate and Assembly on the Finances 
— Mr. HofTinan's Speech — Mr. Flaj^g's Report — Mr. Hoffman's Finan- 
cial Bill of 184'3 — It passes the Assembly — Proceedings in the Senate 
thereon — Mr. Dickinson's Substitute, and Messrs. Foster's and Faulk- 
ener's Amendments — The People's Resolutions — Indications of Dissen- 
sions in the Democratic and Whig Parties — Virginia Controversy again 
discus^ed — Bill for removing the Stale Printer — Vetoed by the Governor 
— Proceedings in Congress — Mr. Wright's Speech on the Loan Bill — 
His Speech on the Bill for dividing the States into single Congressional 
Districts— New Tariff Bill— Mr. Wright's Speech on this Bill— Demo- 
cratic State Convention — William C. Bouck nominated for Governor — 
He is elected — D. S. Dickinson elected Lieutenant-governor. 

There was an unusual number of men of talents 
elected to the assembly at the annual election in 1841. 
From the city of New York, O'Sullivan and Townsend, 
and Messrs. M'Clay, Grout, Jones, M'Murray, &c., add- 
ed much to the strength of the representation from that 
city. Horatio Seymour, from Utica ; John A. Dix, late 
secretary of state, now United States senator, from Al- 
bany. Lemuel Stetson, from Clinton county; that learned 
and able lawyer, George A. Simmons, from Essex ; John 
W. Tamlin, from Jefferson : John A. Lott, from Kings ; 



250 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

Levi S. Chatfield, from Otsego ; George R. Davis, from 
Rensselaer; the benevolent friend of popular education 
and of man, Calvin T. llulburt, from St. Lawrence ; the 
active and energetic Halsey Rogers and John Cramer, 
from Saratoga ; Ziba A. Leland, from Steuben ; Charles 
Humphrey, former speaker, and' now clerk of the Su- 
preme Court, from Tompkins ; and Michael Hoffman 
and Arphaxad Loomis, from the county of Herkimer, 
were all men of distinguished ability. 

As usual, a separate caucus was held by the two 
houses the evening preceding the meeting of the legis- 
lature, which was on Monday, the 3d of January. The 
democratic senators nominated Isaac R. El wood, of 
Rochester, clerk, in place of Samuel G. Andrews, then 
the incumbent. We believe Mr. Andrews had dis- 
charged his duties faithfully, and to the satisfaction 
of the senate and the public. The objections to him 
were purely political. The appointment of Mr. El wood, 
however, was well received. He is a man of highly 
cultivated mind, and extensive and varied literary at- 
tainments. 

At the assembly caucus, Levi S. Chatfield on the first 
ballot received eighty votes, and was declared nomina- 
ted. There was some difficulty in selecting a candidate 
for clerk, but after two or three ballotings, John O. Cole 
of Albany, formerly an energetic police justice of that 
city, was declared duly nominated. The election of 
these gentlemen was of course made the next day. 

The election of Mr. Chatfield, notwithstanding there 
were other democratic members of great talent and 
merit, then belonging to the assembly, was in our judg- 
ment an act of appropriate political justice. That he 
possessed talents of a high order was admitted by all ; 



1842.] governor's message. 251 

but what gave him peculiar claims was, he had come 
into the assembly two or three years before, when the 
democratic party was in a small minority ; had stood in 
the front ranks of the opposition to the whig majority ; had 
defended with zeal and ability the views of his political 
friends, and had been several times their candidate for 
speaker when it was known he could not be elected. These 
circumstances had frequently subjected him to severe 
attacks from his political opponents. Mr. Hoffman was 
probably the strongest man among the democratic mem- 
bers ; but Mr. H. was contending for things rather than 
names — for moral rather than official power. He him- 
self was in favor of Mr. Chatfield. 

Though Gov. Seward always writes and speaks with 
ability, his message on this occasion was, in our opinion, 
both in style and spirit, superior to his former commu- 
nications. He probably felt that he was addressing a 
body of men a majority of whom were in principle opposed 
to some of his favorite doctrines, and whose opposition to 
his policy was sharpened by coming fresh from the field 
of a fierce contest at the polls of the election. 

Atler the usual introductory congratulations and re- 
marks on matters of minor importance, the governor al- 
ludes to the Virginia controversy in the following deco- 
rous and conciliatory manner : 

" I lav before you a law of Virginia calculated to em- 
barrass our commerce. The effect of the act is post- 
poned until May next, and the governor is authorized 
flirther to suspend it whenever the executive authority 
of this state shall surrender three persons heretofore de- 
manded by the lieutenant-governor of that common- 
wealth as fugitives from justice, and the legislature shall 
repeal the law extending the trial by jury. I have re- 



252 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

spectfully informed the authorities of Virginia, that my 
convictions of the illegaUty of that requisition are un- 
changed ; and that although New York, from motives 
of self-respect and devotion to the Union, will not re- 
taliate, nor even remonstrate, yet she cannot consent to 
remain a respondent, since Virginia has seen fit to 
transcend the sphere assigned her hy the federal consti- 
tution, and to pass an aggressive law ; but that this state 
will cheerfully return to a discussion of the subject, with 
a sincere desire to arrive at a conclusion mutually satis- 
factory and conducive to the general harmony, whenever 
the effect of that unfortunate statute shall be removed 
by the action of our sister state, or by an overruling de- 
cision of the Supreme Court of the United States. The 
legislature will decide whether the trial by jury shall be 
relinquished ; and whether a state, which acknowledges 
no natural inequality of men, and no political inequality 
which may not ultimately be removed, shall wrest that 
precious shield from those only whose freedom is assail- 
ed, not for any wrong-doing of their own, but because 
the greatest of all crimes was committed against their 
ancestors. Taught as we have been by the founders of 
the constitution, and most emphatically by the states- 
men of Virginia, we cannot renounce the principle, that 
all men are born free and equal, nor any of its legitimate 
consequences. But we can, nevertheless, give to Vir- 
ginia, and to the whole American family, pledges of 
peace, affection, and fidelity to the Union, by relying 
upon legal redress alone, and by waiting the returning 
magnanimity of a state whose early and self-sacrificing 
vindication of the rights of man has entitled her to en- 
during veneration and gratitude."' 

On the subject of capital punishment the governor says : 



1842.] governor's message. 253 

" Every philanthropic mind will cling to the hope, that 
ultimately the supremacy of the laws may be maintain- 
ed, without exacting, in any case, a forfeiture of hfe. 
Nevertheless, the subject requires most cautious deliber- 
ation. The substitution of imprisonment for life would 
be signally unsuccessful, without such a modification of 
the pardoning power as might prevent its being employ- 
ed except in cases where it would seem necessary to 
correct error." 

The message alludes to the case of M'Leod in a man- 
ner that appears to us rather as evincive of an inclina- 
tion to evade the expression of an opinion upon the great 
question of national law involved in that case, and to 
speak in a way least calculated to disturb popular preju- 
dices against encroachment upon the sovereignty of the 
state. 

In speaking upon the school and literature fund, the 
governor says : 

" The literature fund, devoted to the improvement of 
the higher branches of learning in colleges and acade- 
mies, has a capital of $208,990, and. including what is 
received from the United States deposites, an income of 
847,165. The value of the endowments of our colleges 
and academies is $2,175,731. The productive capital 
of the common school fund is $2,03(5,625, and its whole 
income is $261,073. If we should include lands valued 
at $200,000, and so much of the United States deposite 
moneys as yield revenue to this fund, its value would be 
$5,819,959. There are 10,886 school district libraries, 
containing 630,000 volumes. The whole capital perma- 
nently invested for the support of education, including 
the two funds, the endowments of colleges, and the value 
of school edifices, is $10,500,000." 

22 



254 POLITICAL HISTORY OF VEW YORK. [1842 

He adds, with peculiar propriety, that "there is a hap- 
pv contrast between this munificent foundation and a 
resolution of the colonial assembly, not long before the 
revolution, declaring that a report that they intended to 
lew bv tax £500, to be expended in the promotion of 
leamincr, was groundless, false, and malicious.'"' 

Mr. Seward renews his recommendation in favor of 
the distribution of the common-school moneys in the city 
of Xew York in such a manner as to allow foreigners 
and Catholics to participate in the bounty of the state, 
without a violation of what they deem to be their reU- 
gious duties to their children. On that subject he says : 

" This proposition, to gather the young from the streets 
and wharves into the nurseries which the state, solicit- 
ous for her security against ignorance, has prepared for 
them, has sometimes been treated as a device to appro- 
priate the school iiind to the endowment of seminaries 
for teaching lanaruages and faiths, thus to perpetuate the 
prejudices it seeks to remove : sometimes as a scheme 
for dividing that precious fund among a hundred jar- 
ring sects, and thus increasing the religious animosities 
it strives to heal : sometimes as a plan to subvert the 
prevailing religion and '-^^^^uce one repugnant to the 
consciences of our fe.. . -.ilizens; while, in truth, it 
simply proposes, by enlightening equally the minds of 
all, to enable them to detect error wherever it may ex- 
ist and to reduce uncongenial masses into one intelli- 
gent virtuous, harmonious, and happy people. Being 
now relieved from all such misconceptions, it presents 
the questions, whether it is wiser and more humane to 
educate the offspring of the poor, than to leave them to 
grow up in ignorance and vice : whether juvenile vice 
is more easilv eradicated bv the court of sessions than bv 



1842.] governor's message. 255 

common schools : whether parents have a right to be 
heard concerning the instruction and instructors of their 
children, and tax-payers, in relation to the expenditure 
of public funds ; whether, in a republican government, 
it is necessary to interpose an independent corporation 
between the people and the schoolmaster, and whether 
it is wise and just to disfranchise an entire community 
of all control over public education, rather than suffer a 
part to be represented in proportion to its numbers and 
contributions. Since such considerations are now in- 
volved, what has hitherto been discussed as a question 
of benevolence and universal education, has become one 
of equal civil rights, religious tolerance, and liberty of 
conscience. We could bear with us, in our retirement 
from public service, no recollection more worthy of being 
cherished through life, than that of having met such a 
question in the generous and confiding spirit of our in- 
stitutions, and decided it upon the immutable principles 
on which they are based." 

The governor informs the legislature that the amount 
received for canal tolls during the preceding year from 
all the canals, was 82.034.878, which was very near 
double the amount received from the same source in the 
year 1831.* The net revenue from the canals, after 
deducting all expenditures during the last fiscal year, 
was 81.551.098. 

With respect to the public debt the governor 
says : 

'• The permanent public debt, at the close of the last 
fiscal year, exclusively of temf>orarf loans, contingent 
liabilities, and the balance of the Erie and Champlain 



• The (oils received iu 1831 ainouuted to do more than $1,223,801 



256 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

Canal debt, for the payment of which equivalent funds 
are set apart, is $15,540,530; to which must be added 
temporary loans, amounting to $1,855,000, making the 
aggregate debt $17,395,530 ; and the interest annually 
payable thereon, including also interest on the stocks 
loaned to the railroad companies who are in default, is 
$919,704. The debt consists of stocks chiefly redeem- 
able in 1845, 1850, 1855, and 1860. The amount of 
stocks issued to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
pany, and railroad companies, is $5,035,700. You will, 
of course, give immediate attention to proper measures 
for reimbursing temporary loans." 

Gov. Seward urges the continuation of the enlarge- 
ment of the Erie Canal, and the completion of the con- 
struction of the Genesee Valley and Black River canals. 
He says : 

" If, therefore, we would preserve the inestimable ben- 
efits of inland navigation which we now enjoy, if we 
would save the treasury from embarrassment, if we de- 
sire the accomplishment of the other public works, if we 
would in any degree extend our interior communica- 
tions, if we would maintain the public laith, prevent gen- 
eral distress, retain our commercial precedence and po- 
litical influence, and guard against the dismemberment 
of our territory, it is necessary to complete the enlarge- 
ment of the Erie Canal throughout, and with all con- 
venient diligence." 

With respect to the Genesee Valley and Black River 
canals, he says : 

•' The Genesee Valley Canal was undertaken in 1836. 
Its cost, then estimated at near two millions, was sub- 
sequently raised to about five millions. The Black 
River Canal was commenced at the same time, upon an 



1842.] governor's message. 257 

estimate of about one million, but which afterwards 
advanced to two millions. Loans for these improve- 
ments, amounting to 82,800,000, were authorized pre- 
viously to 1839, and like loan.s for $1,600,000, since that 
time. Although it might be conceded that these enter- 
prises would have been delayed, if their real cost had 
been correctly understood, or the subsequent embarrass- 
ment of the country foreseen ; yet, when the condition of 
the works, their destined connection with navigable wa- 
ters, penetrating remote recesses of the country, and 
their ultimate usefulness are considered, together with 
the injurious consequences which would result from 
abandoning such undertakings, I am sure that nothing 
but an inflexible necessity, not yet apparent, will induce 
your consent to a measure so widely injurious." 

We cannot suppress the remark, that those engineers 
who estimated the expense of constructing the Black 
River Canal at one million of dollars, and that of the 
Genesee Valley at two millions, (upon the faith of which 
the legislature directed their construction) — when, after 
large expenditures had been incurred, it was ascertained 
that the expense of making the Black River Canal would 
be double the estimate, and that the Genesee Valley 
Canal would cost jive millions instead of two — must 
have been either grossly incompetent or corrupt ; and 
in either case they ought promptly to have been dis- 
charged from the public service. 

The governor speaks in terms of approbation of the 
New York and Erie Railroad, and thinks it may be 
completed in the year 1843. He recommends the con- 
struction of a railroad from the St. Lawrence river to 
Lake Champlain, and a central railway from the neigh- 
borhood of Albany to New York ; and although he con- 

22* 



258 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

siders the question doubtful, he seems rather to incline 
to the opinion that these great channels of overland nav- 
igation, if we may so speak, should be constructed and 
owned by the state. He says : 

" The estimated cost of all the public works in pro- 
gress, including two-thirds of the expense of the New 
York and Erie Railroad, such being the proportion in 
which the state has contributed to that enterprise, is 
$36,598,379, of which sum it yet remains for the legis- 
lature to provide $17,265,130. Large as this sum is, 
there is no reason to suppose that it surpasses our fiscal 
ability. It is true that the state owes a debt, including 
temporary loans, of seventeen millions; but it is not in 
any form a dead weight, like public debts contracted in 
war, or for improvident expenditures. It has been cre- 
ated in constructing a system of works, which not only 
is to yield a return when finished, but which is so pro- 
ductive in every stage, that its profits furnish all the 
means necessary for its completion, without exacting a 
dollar from land, labor, or any other resource ; a system 
which leaves nothing to speculation concerning its ade- 
quacy to pay the interest on its cost, because it pays 
interest in advance, nor concerning the reimbursement 
of the cost itself, because the surplus profits over the 
annual interest are adequate to procure the further sum 
required, and would at any time, when so applied, en- 
sure a rapid extinguishment of the principal. The debt 
is large because the enterprise is great." 

After alluding to the immense resources of the state, 
and stating that its taxable property amounted to 
$700,000,000, the governor says : 

" But notwithstanding these resources, the prosecution 
of the public works is embarrassed. It is, however, the 



1842.] governor's message. 259 

fortune of enterprise ; it is essential to enterprise — it is 
enterprise itself, to encounter embarrassments ; and 
there is no merit in success which is obtained without 
effort and involves no sacrifice. The present emergency 
will nevertheless be found to exact no extraordinary 
energy or patriotism. 

" Since the works were undertaken, the rate of inter- 
est demanded upon loans to the state has advanced from 
five to ab(»ut seven per cent. Prudence, under such 
circumstances, counsels moderation; yet the value of 
money has not increased as much as the prices of labor 
and subsistence have fallen, and it would certainly be 
the worst of all economy to discontinue enterprises so 
important fur a reason so inadequate, or to sacrifice in 
delays and damages more than the additional cost re- 
sulting from the enhanced rate of interest. While we 
ought, therefore, to pursue the undertakings cautiously, 
and even at some apparent although unreal sacrifice, we 
are, nevertheless, required to put forth every effort to 
restore our public stocks to their former value. Such 
efforts, however, would prove unavailing, if the causes 
of the evil were misunderstood. We are in competi- 
tion with other states and countries in borrowing money. 
The securities of other nations are not depreciated, while 
those of our sister states, whether they owe less or more, 
are reduced, none less than our own, and some thirty, 
forty, filty. sixty, and seventy, even eighty per cent. 
The federal government, which has once paid absolute- 
ly a debt <if-S 189,000,000, and which now owes nothing, 
is unable, at the same rate of interest we offer, to obtain 
a loan for three years, of an amount equal to only half 
a year's revenues. Is it true then that the depreciation 
of our stocks has resulted from the greatness of our 



260 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

debt, or from the magnitude of our undertakings, or 
from any fiscal unsoundness or error ? On the contra- 
ry, it is apparent that our stocks are depressed by some 
general cause affecting all American governmental se- 
curities. Some of the states have with youthful impru- 
dence embarked, without proper fiscal systems, in great 
enterprises, which seemed to us, as well as to themselves, 
feasible and not disproportionate to their ability. A com- 
mercial revulsion has overtaken them before their works 
could be completed and rendered productive. Supplies 
of capital have ceased — the works remain unfinished — 
the states fail to pay interest punctually ; and since 
punctuality is the life of credit, their credit is expiring." 

The governor urges upon the legislature the imperious 
duty of preserving the credit of the state unimpaired and 
unsuspected, and concludes his remarks on financial 
concerns by saying : 

" I suggest, with a view to this purpose, a rigid ad- 
herence, under all circumstances, to the rule hitherto 
observed, that the whole public debt shall not be raised 
above such an amount as that its interest can be paid 
out of the current surplus revenues of the canals ; and 
to remove all questions concerning the fiscal soundness 
and moral integrity of the state, I recommend that all 
the future revenues from the national domain shall be 
pledged as a sinking fund to the extinguishment of the 
principal of the public debts, annually paying, or provi- 
ding for the payment of a part of the principal, and ab- 
sorbinc: first the older debts. If seventeen millions of 
dollars are yet required to complete our public works, 
the system I have suggested would in 1855 discharge 
the whole of our present and future indebtedness, and 
after that leave an unincumbered annual revenue." 



1842.] MR. collier's report. 2G1 

In announcing that a (^bt of thirty-six millions of 
dollars wouKl upon his system be paid oft' and discharged 
in 1855, without resorting to taxation, we presume the 
governor must have assumed two very material facts — 
first, that money could always be borrowed by the state 
at a rate not over six per cent. ; and, second, that the 
avails of the sales of land by the United States would 
from year to year be distributed among the several states. 

We have made more copious extracts from the mes- 
sage than we should have done, had not this document 
evidently been prepared by Gov. Seward with great 
care, as his last message, (for he had previously caused 
it to be announced that he should not be a candidate for 
re-election,) and because he was aware that he was ad- 
dressing a body of men, a majority of whom came there 
with the avowed determination to oppose and overthrow 
the financial system of him and his political friends. 
Thus situated, he surely has a right to an attentive and 
fair hearing 

The report of the comptroller, Mr. Collier, bears date 
on the 4th of January. It commences by stating the public 
debt at 817,911,230.00. and the liabilities for loans of the 
credit of the state to incorporated companies at 84,235,700. 
The comptroller controverts a report made by Mr. Hofl''- 
man, at the preceding session, which states the public 
debt to be more than twent}' millions of dollars. The 
comptroller estimates the actual debt at 814,901,000 
only. The report generally sustains the views of the 
governor as expressed in his message ; it gives an inter- 
esting history of the practice of loaning the credit of 
the state to chartered companies, contains many statis- 
tical facts, well and luminously arranged, and must have 
been prepared with great care and labor. 



262 poLiT:i;AL history of new york. [1842. 

In the early part of the session an unpleasant alter- 
cation took place between the governor and senate, 
which arose under the following circumstances : 

In the year 1841, a law passed both houses of the le- 
gislature, and was approved by the executive, transfer- 
ring the appointment of receivers of insolvent corpo- 
rations from the chancellor to the bank commissioners. 
Early in the present session, a bill was introduced into 
the senate for the repeal of this law, which passed both 
houses in a day or two, and was sent to the governor 
for his approval. 

The governor, on the 22d of January, returned the 
bill to the senate, with his signature, approving it, ac- 
companied with a message. The message stated, in 
substance, that the act which was repealed by the bill 
contained a salutary and useful provision ; that it had 
been in operation too short a time (only about nine 
months) to enable the public to judge of its utility, and 
that in his judgment it ought not to be repealed. " But," 
said the governor, " the general responsibilities of ma- 
king laws rest with the legislature, while upon the exec- 
utive are devolved only the duties of recommending 
measures, and of rejecting, for sufficient causes, bills 
originated and perfected by the representatives of the 
people. Although the executive might reluctantly feel 
himself obliged to interpose objections in a case where 
a proposed law should have hastily and inconsiderately 
passed the legislature, or should contravene the letter or 
spirit of the constitution, or infringe individual rights, 
or impair the necessary efficiency of the executive ad- 
ministration, or invade the constitutional or appropriate 
powers of any department of the government, or threat- 
en any pervading or lasting injury to the public welfare, 



1842.] PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 263 

or should tend to produce inequality or injustice, or 
deeply compromise any recognised princi[)les of repub- 
lican institutions, yet the person administering the gov- 
ernment could not interpose objections to less important 
bills upon the mere ground of a difference of opinion 
concerning their expediency, without assuming an un- 
due share of legislative responsibility. 

" Applying these principles to the present case, I have 
not thought it my duty to embarrass the action of the 
legislature, but, cheerfully confiding in their superior 
wisdom, have approved and signed the bill, availing 
myself of this occasion to submit an explanation, inas- 
much as the proceeding involves an apparent inconsis- 
tency, which might lead to misapprehensions concerning 
my views of the policy of the measure." 

This message was sent to the senate on Saturday. 
On Monday morning, Mr. Foster moved to strike the 
message from the minutes, on the ground that it was 
the duty of the governor, if he approved of a bill, to 
sign it ; " if not, he should return it with his objections." 
The governor, Mr. Foster argued, had no right to ap- 
prove of a bill, and at the same time to cause to be en- 
tered on the minutes his objections to it, or his apology 
for signing it. " He has no more right," said Mr. Fos- 
ter, '• to spread upon the journal the reasons which may 
have influenced him in signing it, than senators have to 
enter their speeches, pro and con, upon the same record. 
Nay, not so much right, for it was the senate's journal, 
not the governors." 

The motion of Mr. Foster was discussed for some 
time in the senate, with apparent good temper, and final- 
ly, after it had lain over one day, was passed by a party 
vote of fourteen to thirteen. 



264 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

On the 2Gth of January, the governor sent another 
message to the senate, in which, after adverting to the 
order of that house to strike his communication of the 
■ 22d from its journal, he says : 

" I do therefore, vidth extreme regret that such a pro- 
ceeding has become necessary, and with the most re- 
spectful deference, inform the senate, that the suppression 
of the communication refei'red to is reararded bv me as 
a dangerous invasion of the rights of the executive de- 
partment, unwarranted by any precedent in the history 
of the government, and without any justification in the 
circumstances of the transaction." 

This message produced considerable excitement in 
the senate, and elicited a warm and somewhat acrimo- 
nious debate. 

Mr. Strong, from Rensselaer, offered a resolution, that 
the message be returned to the governor, which was 
adopted by a party vote — fifteen in the afiirmative, and 
eleven in the negative. 

The registry law was repealed among the first acts of 
this legislature. 

It is not improbable that Mr. Townsend's bill for the 
creation of election districts was calculated to accom- 
plish, and has actually accomplished, all the substantial 
good effects that it was anticipated would be gained by 
the law which required the names of the legal voters to 
be registered before the election. 

On the 31st January, Gideon Hawley, of Albany, 
who had long been secretary of the regents of the uni- 
versity, and was the first superintendent of common 
schools, of whom we have spoken in a preceding vol- 
ume, was elected a regent of the university. 

On the evening of the 4th day of February the demo- 



1842. J LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 265 

cratic members of the legislature assembled in caucus to 
nominate state officers. There were 107 members pres- 
ent ; and on balloting for comptroller, A. C. Flagg had 
105 votes, and was, of course, declared duly nomi- 
nated. 

Notwithstanding this strong vote in his favor, it is a 
fact, tiiat some portion of the democratic party did not 
desire that he should be elected comptroller. Although 
no one, so far as we know, doubted his capacity or in- 
tegrity, an impression did prevail that he was too strin- 
gent in his notions in relation to the expenditures on the 
credit of the state for internal improvements, of which, 
and of Mr. Flagg, we shall have occasion to speak 
more fully hereafter ; in the mean time remarking, that 
the same impressions which on this occasion produced 
any feeling against Mr. Flagg's appointment as comp- 
troller, was, as we believe, the germ out of which has 
grown the present schism in the democratic party. At 
this time, however, the current which from all quarters 
set in for the reappointment of Mr. Flagg was so over- 
whelming, that no opposition was openly made to his 
nomination. 

On the first ballot for secretary of state, Samuel Young 
received 49 votes, Samuel W. Jones, 23, Ebenezer 
Meeck, 19, and John B. Skinner, 15. On the third bal- 
lot Col. Young received 58 votes, and was declared 
nominated. It may be proper to state that this nomina- 
tion was entirely unsolicited by Mr. Young. When it 
was intimated to him that his friends desired that he 
should be secretary of state, he peremptorily refused to 
accept the office. Judge Jewett was then applied to, 
but he also declined, and thereupon an old friend of Col. 
Young, then a member of the assembly from Saratoga, 

23 



266 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

Mr. H. Rogers, called on Mr. Young and persuaded 
him, though apparently against his own inclination and 
judgment, not to decline. 

There were several candidates for the office of attor- 
ney-general. George P. Barker, of Buflalo, Samuel 
Beardsley, now chief-justice of the Supreme Court, 
Robert H. Morris, of New York, F. G. Jewett. now 
a judge of the Court of Appeals, Amasa J. Parker, now 
a justice of the Supreme Court, and John B. Skinner, of 
Genesee, were respectively voted for, but the conven- 
tion finally put in nomination Mr. Barker, of Erie coun- 
ty. The appointment was a good one, and well re- 
ceived. « 

We hope, however, we may be excused for mention-, 
ing in this place, that many years ago we knew John B. 
Skinner as a worthy and useful member of the legisla- 
ture. He has, we believe, been offered several lucra- 
tive and honorable public employments, and among oth- 
ers that of the office of circuit judge of the eighth circuit, 
which he declined. His modesty or disinclination for 
political life has heretofore depi'ived the public of ser- 
vices which we do not doubt would have been greatly 
beneficial to them. 

Thomas Farrington received 92 votes against 13 
scattering ones for the office of state treasurer. It is 
not remarkable that his nomination should have been so 
unanimous, for we are not aware that he has a single 
personal enemy in the state. 

Nathaniel Jones, of Orange county, was nominated 
surveyor-general. The candidates for adjutant-general 
were Henry Storms and Jonathan D. Stevenson, whom 
we have spoken of in our account of the Glentworth 
frauds ; but Mr. Storms received 54 votes, and Mr. Ste- 



1842.] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 267 

venson 50 ; whereupon Mr. Storms was declared to be 
the candidate. 

The nomination of these officers seems to have con- 
sumed the whole of the evening, for, on motion of Mr. 
Chatfield, the caucus adjourned till the next evening, when 
after several ballotings, and, we presume, considerable 
electioneering, Jonas Earl, of Onondaga county, James 
Hooker, of Dutchess, Daniel P. Bissell, of Livingston, 
George W. Little, of Otsego, Benjamin Enos, of Madi- 
son, and Stephen Clark, were nominated canal com- 
missioners. Mr. Earl had long served in that capa- 
city ; the remaining five were new men. All these 
nominations were confirmed by the legislature. Thus 
the whole power of the state, v> ith the exception of that 
which was vested bv the constitution in the crovernor, 
was now transferred from the whig to the democratic 
party. 

In the senate there were 17 democrats and 15 whi^s. 
The majority, unwilling to leave in the power of Lieu- 
tenant-governor Bradish the selection and appointment 
of committees, resolved that the committees should be 
appointed by ballot. 

The great question, independent of mere party meas- 
ures, which engaged the attention of the legislature, was 
that in relation to the prosecution of the public works 
according to the act of 1838, and the financial condition 
of the state. The incipient labor in order to produce 
action on this important subject was cast on the com- 
mittees on finance and canals in the senate, and that of 
ways and means in the assembly. The senate's com- 
mittee on finance consisted of A. C. Paige, Hawkins, 
and Bockee, and that on canals of Denniston, Rhoades, 
and Varian. In the assembly the committee of ways and 



26S POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

means was comprised of Hoffman, Lawrence, Davis, 
Juliaad, and Smith. 

To whatever cause the financial embarrassment may 
be ascribed, certain it is that the condition of the State 
was such as to alarm cool and calculating citizens. Du- 
ring the greater part of the year 1841, it had been found 
impossible to negotiate permanent loans without a sacri- 
fice the most ruinous. Six per cent, stocks had fallen 
to 20 per cent, below par, and it was doubtful whether 
they would not iail even below that price. Large sums 
were due and in arrear to contractors, some of whom 
were obliged, in order to pay their laborers, to borrow 
of the banks on their own credits. Timid and cautious 
capitalists became alarmed, and* some of them refused 
to loan money to the state on any terms. In this condi- 
tion of things the state officers, in order to prevent a 
suspension of the public works, and a total wreck of the 
credit of the state, were obliged to enter the money- 
market and raise money on short loans, payable in nine 
and twelve months, &c. Like the merchant who, 
hard pressed, borrows money from day to day to 
meet the payment of his notes, and who is sometimes 
obliged to borrow of A. to-day to repay money which 
he borrowed of B. yesterday. To a practice something 
like this, called " shinning," by the merchants, the 
stale othcers were obliged to resort for the purpose of 
discharging the pecuniary obHgations of the state. In 
this way, and on these conditions, about i 1,600,000 had 
been raised. These loans were called " temporary 
loans." 

We have before us a letter from a gentleman of high 
character for veracity and intelligence, now a resi- 
dent of Albany, in which, among other things, he states : 



1842.] COL. YOUNG AND MR. HOFFMAN. 269 

"After the election of 1841, and before the 1st of Janu- 
ary, 1842, Col. Young and myself called on Mr. Hoff- 
man, then in Albany, and the question of what was to 
be done was discussed between us. The colonel was 
of opinion that the evil was so far advanced, that al- 
though it might be postponed by legislation, it could 
not be cured ; that the moment the credit of the state 
was restored so as to be marketable, the influences that 
had destroyed would again rally and again destroy it ; 
that for this reason the true course was to let our credit 
continue to sink until the close of the session, and then 
call a convention to dispose of the whole matter. Mr. 
Hoffman admitted a convention might ultimately be ne- 
cessary, but was disposed to try what legislation could 
do. I think he had in this course the approbation of 
Mr. Flagg." 

Col. Young has been charged with advocating the 
repudiation of the public debt. This charge is untrue. 
He was of opinion that a legislative remedy would afford 
only a transient relief, while a constitutional provision 
would be permanent. Perhaps, like Mr. Pym, he thought 
that " things must be worse before they could be made 
better."* 

When the legislature met, Mr. Hoffman, in a speech 
which occupied a considerable part of the 14th and 15th 
days of January, attacked the governor's message with 
great severity. He disputed some of his facts, and con- 
demned many of his conclusions. He deprecated the 
increase of the state debt, and concluded his speech by 
saying,— 



* So that e.xtraordinary man told Lord Clarendon, a little before tho 
revolution which took place in England during the seventeenth century. 

23* 



270 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [l842. 

" You may follow in the course of other states and 
Other institutions — offer seven, seven and a half— go to 
eight — continue the process until, like Indiana, Illinois, 
and Michigan, vour stocks are sold at forty or fifty cents 
on the dollar. But sooner or later the hour is approach- 
ing when you must stop in this profligate course, as we 
have already stopped our public works. If the two 
houses shall be equal to their duty on this trying occa- 
sion, let no man tremble for the honor and character of 
the state. It can be preserved — it should be. Can any 
man, native or foreign, hesitate between stoppmg these 
exyienditures, and going on at the expense of credit, 
honor, and character ? Lives there any thing so base 
on earth, that to work itself out of difficulty, would 
brincT this state where Indiana and Illinois are ? where 
the Bank of the United States is ? once deemed to be 
beyond the reach of dishonor and bankruptcy — where 
Michigan is ? where deficit has put Maryland, an Atlan- 
tic state ? Will any man say he would bring the state 
to this position, rather than take the safe course which 
he knows will preserve our honor and credit, without 
which every thing else is valueless ? If we will only 
stand by our credit — cease our expenditures — pay as we 
go — we shall overcome this storm, stand erect, and in 
the markets of Europe our merchants will be the mer- 
chants of the republic, our banks the banks of the re- 
public, our reputation, in a word, like that of the people 
of Holland. But if, seeking popularity for an hour, 
dreading the influence of this and that locality, we go 
on, winking there at a railroad, and here at an extension, 
the credit of the state in peril, and itself on the verge of 
bankruptcy — when calamity comes upon us, and we call 
upon the mountains to cover us, the earth itself would 



1842.] MR. franklin's resolution. 271 

spurn us — the ashes of the dead on which we stand 
would be dishonored. The damned would mock us and 
drive us from their society. No language of reproba- 
tion can express the deep indignation that men must feel 
when they see their country urged — urged — urged to 
the fatal verge of ruin." 

The same subject came before the senate on the fol- 
lowing resolution offered by Mr. Franklin : 

"Whereas, it is equally the duty of states as of indi- 
viduals, to maintain inviolate their faith and credit, and 
upon no occasion to repudiate or set at naught a just 
and legal contract, but to uphold and maintain, by every 
means in their power, that degree of honesty and integ- 
rity in reference to their pecuniary obligations which 
will enable them at all times to command the confi- 
dence of those to whom they may be now and hereafter 
indebted : 

" And whereas, in consequence of the excitement and 
alarm which now so generally prevails in reference to 
the plighted faith of some of our states, in consequence 
of the action of their legislatures upon the loans which 
they have created, it is right and proper that an expres- 
sion should be had in relation to the obligations which 
have been entered into by this state : Therefore, 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we hold 
the pecuniary obligations of the state of New York of so 
sacred and binding a character, that we will, by every 
means in our power, maintain and uphold them, and un- 
der no circumstances suffer or permit the confidence 
which has been reposed in our plighted faith to be in the 
least degree injured or impaired by our action ; but will 
hold ourselves responsible, at all times, and under all 
circumstances, to carry out and maintain the legal obli- 



272 ' POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

gations which we have contracted, and faithfully to 
redeem the loans which have been made upon the faith 
and credit of our state." 

To this resolution Mr. Rhoades proposed to add the 
following : 

"Resolved, That we regard the doctrine of repudia- 
tion of state debts, whether emanating from the legisla- 
ture, or from individuals of any state, as alarming in its 
tendency, at war with the principles of natural justice, 
destructive of public morals, and subversive of those 
principles of honest integrity and good faith, without 
which we cannot maintain national or individual pros- 
perity." 

For these resolutions and preamble, Mr. Sherwood 
proposed the following substitute : 

" Strike out all after the word ' whereas' in the first 
line, and insert, ' our present system of finance has con- 
tributed to the general excitement and alarm which so 
extensively prevail in consequence of the excessive 
issues of stocks by the several states : 

" ' And whereas such system, if further continued, 
would be ruinous in its consequences, and subversive 
of the faith and credit of our state, therefore, 

" ' Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we hold 
it among our first duties to provide for the liquidation 
and payment of our present debt, as soon as practica- 
ble, and in no case whatever (except for the purpose of 
suppressing insurrection, repelling invasion, or defend- 
ing the state in war) to create a further debt, unless we, 
at the same time, and in the same bill, provide for its 
ultimate and speedy repayment.' " 

The debate which ensued took a wide range. The 
past financial p(jlicy of the state was reviewed, and the 



1842.] DEBATE IN THE SENATE. i(}73 

course which in the present emergency ought to be pur- 
sued was discussed. 

The democratic members who took part in the debate 
indicated their preference for the system which was ul- 
timately adopted by the celebrated financial statute of 
1842, which was afterwards enacted. On the other 
hand, the whigs contended that it would be unwise to 
adopt restrictions ; that the completion of the projected 
public works ought to be prosecuted without regard tc 
the increase of state indebtedness, whenever money 
could be borrowed at the rate of six per cent. 

On the whig side, Dickinson, Franklin, Rhoades, 
Root, and Hard delivered elaborate and able speeches. 
The latter gentleman, Mr. Hard, was a new member 
from the eighth district. He had been a member of 
congress, and, by his talents and attention to business, 
had acquired a respectable standing and character in 
that body. His experience, abilities, prudence, and in- 
tegrity of character, soon caused him to be regarded as 
one of the most prominent whig leaders in the senate. 
On the other side, Sherwood, Paige, Hunter, Dennison, 
and Ruger, supported Mr. Sherwood's substitute. It 
is said the speech of Mr. Sherwood was able, and did 
him much credit. We have read only the speech of 
Mr. Dennison, which was reported at full length. That 
speech contains an extended review of the financial op-" 
erations of the state, evinces that Mr. D. possessed a 
thorough knowledge of his subject, and is marked with 
distinguished ability. 

Mr. Flagg was appointed comptroller on the 7th of 
February, and on the 15th of that month he made a 
communication to the assembly, which presented his 
views of the condition of the treasury, and the future 



274 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

course which in his judgment ought to be pursued. In 
this communication he boldly laid bare the financial con- 
dition of the state : he adverted to the rapid decline of 
the public credit, and if he did not demonstrate that the 
ship of state- was aground, he proved that she was on 
the point of foundering. He commenced by stating that 
the sum which the general fund was required to pay 
during that year amounted to $797,829.40. This sum 
included 8343,436.43 which had been borrowed of the 
safety-bank fund, but which, in consequence of the re- 
cent bank failures, the general fund would be called on 
to repay. 

He further stated, that " money has been borrowed 
during the past year from sundry banks and other cor- 
porations, and made payable in the month of March, to 
the amount of $1,455,000. Of this large amount, the 
sum of $1,205,000 is due on the first day of the ensuing 
month. When this money was borrowed, no provision 
whatever was made for its payment, and the present 
commissioners have been under the necessity of asking 
for an extension of the sums due on the 1st of March." 
These moneys were denominated "temporary loans." 

Mr. Flagg proceeds to state that from the report of 
the late comptroller there was a deficiency in the means 
provided to put the canals in repair for the ensuing 
spring, and to pay the interest on the public debt on the 
1st of April, of $396,837.20, and that this sum might be 
increased in consequence of injuries to the canals by 
floods. 

" This statement," he says, " shows that the amount 
required within the next forty-five days, to open the ca- 
nals and pay interest on the direct debt of the state, 
cannot be less than $400,000. 



1842.] MR. flagg's views. 275 

" To this must be added the following sums, viz : 
" Interest on temporary loans in March . . 32,698 37 
" Principal of the loans standing in the name 
of the N. Y. State Bank, payable 16th 
March, 200,000 00 



" Total sum to be raised before the 1st April, $632,698 37 

"How," continues Mr. Flagg, "is this money to be 
raised ? In relation to long loans, the commissioners of 
the canal fund went to the bottom of the loan-bag a year 
ago, and they have carried to exhaustion the questiona- 
ble expedient of temporary loans from banks." 

He states the increase of the state debt from 1838 to 
February, 1842, to be $16,229,141.68. The comptrol- 
ler adds : 

" It may be said that the European market is closed 
against our stocks, and that the stocks of the states gen- 
erally, are much more depressed than our own ; yet 
Massachusetts stock has measurably maintained its 
standing, as ours did in 1837. It is not possible to up- 
hold the character of state stock, so long as it is issued 
to such excess to pay contractors, and is loaned to in- 
solvent banks and needy railroads. Forced upon an 
overburdened market through such channel?, the credit 
of New York is measured, not by its own vast resources 
and ample revenue of two millions of dollars, but is 
brought down to the urgent necessities of a needy indi- 
vidual, or of a corporation on the brink of dissolution. 
In this way only could the six per cent, stocks of this 
state be reduced to a discount of twenty-two or twenty- 
five per cent." 

He recommends a retrenchment of expenditures, and 



276 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

a direct tax of one mill on a dollar, and concludes by 
saying : 

" Sound action at the present crisis is of inconceivable 
importance to the future welfare, as well as to the im- 
mediate business interests, of the people of this state ; 
and more or less, from the peculiar condition of things, 
to the whole country. At such a time, local interests, 
and every consideration merely personal, must yield, for 
the time being, to the paramount welfare of the whole. 

" Whatever difterences of opinion may prevail on 
other subjects, it is to be hoped that resort may not be 
had to any of the wretched expedients which have 
proved so disastrous to some of the states of this Union ; 
but that we may look our difficulties full in the face, and 
adopt such sound measures as are necessary to restore 
the credit of the state, and protect our free institutions 
from dishonor." 

On the 7th of March, Mr. Hoffinan, from the com- 
mittee of ways and means, made an elaborate report, in 
which he presented views of the financial affairs of the 
state similar to those of Mr. Flagg. The committee, in 
conclusion, say : 

" 1. The expenditures of the state must cease. The 
present ' pressing engagements' for the general fund, and 
for the canals in 1842, and for the canal stock debt to be 
provided for before or in 1845, after applying all present 
means on hand and available, and all prospective surplus 
of canal revenue to and including 1845, will, as we have 
seen, leave ^4,123,329.90 to be extended beyond 1845 
by the credit of the state. Provision too must be made 
to supply any deficiency in the general fund revenue. 
Until after 1845, therefore, there will he no sitrplus of 
canal tolls to be e/nployed as a fund or means to pay 



1842.] MR. Hoffman's report. 277 

interest on new canal loans. These tolls will be ab- 
solutely nece.ssary to provide lor the liabilities above 
specified. New loans for further expenditure cannot 
therefore be made, except on terms at once disgraceful 
and ruinous to the credit of the state. The impeach- 
ment of that credit by such new loans for new expen- 
ditures, would prevent the state from negotiating loans 
for existing demands, as above stated, and to meet which 
we have no means present or prospective in tolls. 

"2. A tax of one mill on the dollar, or one dollar on 
every thousand of the assessed value of all taxable prop- 
erty, should be iinp(jsed and collected lor each of the 
years 1843, 1844, 1845, and 1846. The assessed value 
of the real and personal {jfoperty of the state, according 
to the comptroller's report, page 80, is ''$005,299,530, and 
the tax thus levied would produce a revenue of about 
$600,000 annually. The tax assessed in 1842, and col- 
lected in 1843, should be paid into the treasury in aid of 
the general fund, as should also one-half of the revenue 
from the tax collected in each of the years 1844, 1845, 
and 1846. It would probably bring to the general fund 
$1,500,000. It would be a certain resource for the pay- 
ment of tem|)orary loans, for the treasury, and thus en- 
able the state to replenish the bank safety-fund, the other 
special funds, and especially to restore the fund set apart 
to pay the Erie and Champlain canal debt, 8239,425.16, 
which the state has consumed of the capital of that fund 
for current expenses. It would, to some extent, provide 
the treasury with means to meet the probable charge of 
railroad interest. 

" The other half of the above tax to be collected in 
the years 1844, 1845, and 1846, should be paid over to 
the commissioners of the canal fund to aid that fund. 

24 



278 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

It would produce about 8900,000, which, added to the 
avaihible means on hand, Feb. 8, 1842, for current canal 
expenses, $76,097.80, would make $976,097.80. This 
would furnish the entire means of repaying loans to 
meet the pressing demands on the canal fund, to pay in- 
terest in March and April, to pay for the repairs in prog- 
ress on the Chemung Canal, and the expenses ol repairs, 
superintendents, and collectors on the canals, until June 
next, $681,480.32, and leave applicable to other loans for 
other pressing demands of the canal fund, $294,617.28. 

" 3. The funds subject to the legal control of the state 
should be collected, and as far as safe and proper should 
be invested in such loans as the legislature shall au- 
thorize, to meet the pressing demands of the canals for 
1842." 

In conformity with these principles, the committee 
brousht in the celebrated bill entitled, " An act to pro- 
vide for paying the debt and preserving the credit of the 
state." 

The bill did not linger long in the assembly. It was 
opposed with much zeal, and of course with distinguish- 
ed ability, by Mr. Simmons of Essex, and some others 
belonging to the same party. Mr. Humphrey, of Tomp- 
kins, expressed his apprehensions that the suspension of 
the public works would have a disastrous effect on 
Tompkins and the adjoining counties : he deeply regret- 
ted that the passage of such a bill had become necessary, 
and he therefore yielded his assent to it with great re- 
luctance.* The vote on the final passage of the bill 



* While the bill was in the assembly, Governor Bonck visited Albany. 
When there he expressed his opposition to the suspension of the public 
works. He suggested the plan of sending a mission to Holland to borrow 



1842.] MR. Dickinson's substitute. 279 

was taken on the 19th of March, 50 members voting in 
the affirmative, and 27 in the negative. Those who 
voted in the negative were nearly, if not quite all, 
whigs. 

When the bill came into the senate, Mr. Dickinson 
offered, not, as he stated, " as the embodiment of the 
views of the minority," but as his own " individual prop- 
osition," for which no political party was responsible, 
a bill containing in substance the following provisions, 
as a substitute for the bill from the house : 

"Sec. 1. Imposes an annual tax of one per cent, on 
the capital stock of all banks, banking associations, in- 
surance and trust companies, (except mutual insurance 
companies,) and exempts such corporations and associa- 
tions from all other taxes, except the contribution to the 
bank fund. 

" Sec. 2. Act to continue in force for three years from 
the first of July^next. 

" Sec. 3. The share of this state in the proceeds of the 
public lands, to be received from the United States 
treasury, and pledged to the payment of the stock debt 
of this state. 

" Sec. 4. The comptroller to issue bonds, redeemable 
in not less than 20 years, bearing interest not exceeding 
seven per cent., to the following amount, and the bonds 
to be disposed of on the best terms that can be obtained. 
For temporary loans, $1,544,000 ; for the Chemung Ca- 
nal, $150,000 ; for opening canals, &c., $200,000 ; for 



money, and for a time seemed anxious that the bill should be abandoned, 
and that his scheme should be adopted ; but ujwn the remonstrance of 
Mr. Seymour of Ulica, and perhap.s others of his friends, he reluctantly, 
and against his judgment, discontinued his opposition. 



280 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

replenishing the general fund, $025,828 ; for arrearages 
to contractors, $569,000. 

"Sec. 5. Appropriates $160,000 for the further pros- 
ecution of the Black River Canal, $200,000 for the Gen- 
esee Valley Canal, $750,000 for the New York and Erie 
Railroad Company, and $1,400,000 for the Erie Canal 
enlargement ; and charges the interest (which will soon 
be in default) of the New York and Erie Railroad stock 
to the general fund. 

" Sec. 6. Authorizes the comptroller to issue bonds to 
the amount of $1,250,000 in sums oUen dollars, payable 
in one year, and a like sum in two years, at seven per 
cent., for the objects of the preceding section. 

" Sec. 7. Authorizes the comptroller to pay said bonds 
in the stock created by the 4th section." 

It will be perceived that Mr. Dickinson's bill proposed 
a tax on incorporated companies in lieu of a state tax, 
a sinking fund to be formed from the moneys hereafter 
to be paid to this state by the United States from the 
avails of the sales of public lands, and a continuation, to 
a limited extent, of expenditures for carrying on the 
public works. 

Mr. Paige then proceeded, in a speech of considera- 
ble leneth, to review the condition of the state finances, 
and in support of the original bill. He was replied to 
by Mr. Dickinson. 

The motion for the adoption of the substitute was lost, 
only six whigs, Dickinson, Hard, Hawkins, Piatt, Root, 
and Works, voting in favor of it. The principal ground 
taken by the whigs was opposition to levying a tax, which 
they contended might be dispensed with ; and to a total 
suspension of the public works. 

After Mr. Dickinson's substitute was disposed of, Mr. 



1842.] Foster's amendment. 281 

Foster moved an amendment to the fifth subdivision of 
the fifth section, so as to api)ly not exceeding 8400,000 
to the Erie Canal enlargement and the Glens Falls feed- 
er ; not exceeding §100,000 to the Black River Canal 
and Erie Canal feeder; and not exceeding 8150,000 to 
the Genesee Valley Canal. [The section, as it stood, 
appropriated 8500,000 to the preservation of works now 
in progress, and the payment of land damages. The 
amendment adds 8150.000 to the appropriation.] 

Mr. Foster said it would be perceived that his propo- 
sition was to add 8150,000 to the amount of this appro- 
priation, and to divide it in such manner as to permit the 
preservation of all the works in progress. A previous 
section appropriated 81,000.000 for arrearages to con- 
tractors, extra allowances, and land damages ; and the 
$500,000 in this subdivision was intended, after paying 
such sums as might be necessary to secure the preserva- 
tion ot the works, to make up for deficiencies in the 
million. Mr. F. was desirous to go for the lowest pos- 
sible sum which could secure the preservation of the 
canals as they are, and put those that are navigable in 
suitable order. But he believed this proposed half mil- 
lion would prove to be inadequate to save the state from 
pecuniary loss, arising from the destruction of works par- 
tially completed. 

And he offered his amendment in the shape he did for 
another consideration. By the tenth section, all works 
were to be suspended until the farther order of the legis- 
lature, except three kinds of work, to wit : such as shall 
be necessary to preserve or secure the navigation ; such 
as may be necessary to preserve works already done,, 
from destruction by ice or floods ; or such as the com- 
pletion of which may cost less than will be saved in the 

24* 



282 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

preservation of the work already done. By this section 
nothing could be done upon the Black River Canal. He 
believed there was imminent danger of the destruction 
of works on that canal from causes other than by ice or 
floods. Mr. F. described the condition of locks, which 
would probably decay unless water was admitted into 
them. 

Mr. Paige said, from the examination he had given 
to the subject, he had arrived at the conclusion that the 
sums appropriated were sufficient for the purposes indi- 
cated. Mr. P. went briefly into detail as to estimates, 
and replied to the other parts of Mr. Foster's remarks, by 
pointing to a general power to preserve works from de- 
struction, contained in another section. 

Mr. Foster rejoined, differing as to the construction 
of the section. 

Mr. Nicholas said there was another item, which was 
altogether unprovided for in this bill, and which he an- 
ticipated would be a very heavy one ; he alluded to 
damages arising out of the suspension of contracts. This 
was kept out of view ; but if the work was to be arrested, 
it should be provided for in the same bill. If he was 
rightly informed, the contracts which would be suspend- 
ed amounted to some $3,000,000, and that the claims for 
damages for their suspension would be almost as large 
as that amount. He believed that the sums pro- 
vided in the bill were ample for the objects enumerated, 
and he could not, therefore, vote for the present amend- 
ment. 

Mr. Dickinson could not go for this small amendment ; 
the bait was too insignificant. Besides, this made no 
provision for the New York and Erie Railroad — a work 
second only in importance to the Erie Canal. He should 



1842.] Faulkner's amendment. 283 

therefore vote against the amendment and against the 
bill, and go before the people upon the substitute pro- 
posed by him. 

Mr. Foster's amendment was rejected, only seven 
members, Dickinson, Faulkner, Foster, Hard, Hawkins, 
Peck, and Works, voting for it. 

Mr. Faulkner then offered an amendment to the tenth 
section. This amendment proposed to join the canal 
commissioners with the commissioners of the canal fund, 
in the power to direct the application of the moneys to 
particular works, and to enlarge the discretionary pow- 
ers of the board thus to be formed. Upon an inquiry 
made by Mr. Dixon, a sound-minded whig member from 
Chatau(|ue, whether this was all the alteration proposed 
to be elfected by the amendment ; and on being an- 
swered by Mr. Faulkner in the affirmative, IMr. Dixon 
declined to vote for this amendment, and it received 
only the votes of Messrs. Faulkner, Foster, Hard, and 
Works. 

The proceedings of the democratic n)embers of the 
senate on the amendments of Mr. Foster and Mr. Faulk- 
ner are worthy of particular notice, because they afford- 
ed the first public demonstration in our state legislature 
of the difference of opinion between that portion of the 
democratic jjarty called Barnburners, or radicals, and 
those that were afterwards called conservatives, or 
" Hunkers." For the purpose of avoiding circumlocution, 
and not with a view of casting reproach upon either section, 
we shall call the one party hunkers,and the other radicals. 
The radicals claimed to be more stringent in their views 
in relation to state expenditures than the hunkers. At 
the head of the former stood Mr. Hoffman in the assem- 
bly, and Mr. Dennison, Mr. Paige, and Mr. Strong in 



284 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

the senate. Of the latter, Mr. Seymour* in the assem- 
bly, and Mr. Foster in the senate, were the most distin- 
guished. Several members of the senate, however, who 
were understood to agree with Mr. Foster in his general 
views, and who afterwards acted with him, such as Mr. 
Corning of Albany, Dr. Ely of Otsego, &c., did not, on 
this occasion, vote with him. 

There is a curious portion of unwritten history con- 
nected with the action of the senate on this bill, which 
may be worth the attention of the reader. 

Mr. Hunter and Mr. Dennison had declared to some 
of their political friends, that if Mr. Foster's amend- 
ment should be adopted and incorporated in the bill, 
they should be compelled to vote against it on the ques- 
tion of its final passage. If, then, these two senators, 
and all the whigs had voted, as it was known they would 
do, against the bill, it would inevitably have been de- 
feated, for there were but seventeen democratic votes in 
the senate. If, therefore, the whigs in a body had voted 
for Mr. Foster's amendment, and then voted against the 
final passage of the bill, the amendment w^ould have 
been adopted, and the bill defeated. In this state of the 
case a communication was opened with one of the lead- 
ing whig senators, who, together with several of his 
friends, thinking the amendment of very little conse- 
quence, and, as Mr. Dickinson said, that " the bait was 
too insignificant," and probably believing that the sus- 
pension of the public works and the levying of a direct 
tax would be so unpopular as to break down the party 



* It ought to be noted, that Mr. Seymour voted for and supported the 
bill in question. He is spoken of in the text in reference to his subsequent 



course. 



1842.] EKFECT OF LAW OF 1842. 285 

which supported such measures, agreed to vote with the 
radicals against Mr. Foster's amendment. If this state- 
ment is correct, and we have it from unquestionable 
though verbal authority, may it not be said that this 
great measure would not have been carried had it not 
been for the votes of the whig senators ?* 

The passage of this law, and the appointment of Mr. 
Flagg as comptroller, produced an almost instantaneous 
effect on the public credit. Mr. Flagg, as we have 
seen, was appointed comptroller on the 7th of February, 
and the law of which we are speaking was passed on 
the 29th of March- Six per cent, stocks, before the pas- 
sage of the law, sold at from twenty to twenty-two per 
cent, below par. Five per cent, stock was sold at sev- 
enty cents on the dollar. Within two months after the 
passage of the law, seven per cent, stock came up to 
par, and within six or seven months six per cents, also 
sold at par ; and in fifteen months, according to the Al- 
bany Argus, five per cent, stocks were at par. 

* It may well be doubted whether that portion of the whig party in ond 
out of thi* lofirislature, who were interested in banks, and especially Ihotm 
banks which had taken " temporary loans,"' were not desirous that the biil 
of 1843 should become a law, inasmuch as they must have foreseen that 
the effect of the law would be to raise the value of state stocks, witii 
which the bunks able to loan money had then become gorged. In support 
of this hypothesis, a hijfhly inleiliirent correspondent wrote us a few days 
ago from Albany, on the subject of the passage of the finance bill through 
the senate in lb42, that " the action of the whig senators, and the appro- 
val of the governor, were both the result of the influence of the moneyed 
interest," [wc are sure our correspondent does not mean to insinuate that 
that influence operated corruptly,] " in whose hands or vaults were sev- 
eral millions of the recently issued stock. Three or four banks in this 
city had taken .$1,500,000, I think, in the fall of 1839. The slate had 
made short loans from the banks, and finally, in the fail of 1841, had paid 
contractors in stock, having exhausted all other means." 



286 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842, 

A change in the state of the money-market no doubt 
had some effect in producing this great rise in the 
price of state securities, but a principal cause of the 
great advance in the market value of our stocks was 
the restoration of confidence in the soundness of our 
financial system, produced by the passage of the law 
levying a tax and suspending public expenditures, and 
the appointment of Mr. Flagg, in whose financial skill, 
integrity, and firmness capitalists had unbounded confi- 
dence. No man ever possessed this confidence in a 
higher or indeed so high a degree. We say this with- 
out intending to depreciate the merits of any of his pre- 
decessors. 

What probably had some effect in preparing the pub- 
lic mind for receiving favorably the financial system 
enacted by the statute of 1842, was the train of thought 
excited, and the ideas which were elicited by certain 
resolutions for an amendment of the constitution, pro- 
posed by Mr. Loomis, in the assembly of 1841, and 
again offered and discussed during the present session. 
The resolutions, as proposed by Mr. Loomis, were in the 
following words : 

" Resolved, (if the senate concur,) That the following 
amendment to the constitution of the state of New York 
be proposed and referred to the next legislature to be 
chosen, and that the secretary of state cause the same 
to be published in one newspaper in each of the counties 
of this state in which a newspaper is printed, once in 
each week for three months next previous to the next 
annual election, pursuant to the provisions of the first 
section of the eighth article of the said constitution : 

" Resolved, That tlie constitution of the state be so 
amended, that every law authorizing the borrowing of 



1842.] LOOMISS RESOLUTIONS. 287 

money, or the issuing of state stocks, whereby a debt shall 
be created or increased on the credit of the state, shall 
specify the object for which the money shall be appro- 
priated ; and that every such law shall embrace no more 
than one such object, which shall be singly and specifi- 
cally stated ; and that no such law shall take effect until 
it shall be distinctly submitted to the people at the next 
general election, and be approved by a majority of the 
votes cast for and against it at such election. That all 
money to be raised by the authority of such law, be ap- 
plied to the specific object slated in such law, and to no 
other purposes whatever, except the payment of the debt 
thereby created or increased. This provision shall not 
extend or apply to any law to raise money for the pur- 
pose of suppressing insurrection, repelling a hostile in- 
vasion, or defending the state in war." 

As the principles contained in the last resolution, and 
indeed almost its very words, were adopted by the late 
constitutional convention, and now make a part of our 
constitution, and as, like all projects of reformers when 
first presented to the public eye, they were generally 
viewed as visionary, and dangerously revolutionary in 
their character, it seems proper to give some account of 
their origin and the manner in which they gradually grew 
in favor with the public. 

We happen to know the fact that Arphaxad Loomis 
is the parent of the "people's resolutions'' He first 
suggested the project by a communication written by 
him, which was published in the Mohawk Courier, a 
paper printed at Little Falls. The article attracted 
considerable attention, and it was copied into several 
other newspapers. All men of experience and reflec- 
tion had seen the facility with which combinations could 



288 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842 

be formed to carry money bills through the legislature. 
All felt that we had suffered much, and might in future 
suffer more, by improvident legislation, and all were so- 
licitous that a remedy should be discovered and applied. 
The project of Judge Loomis seemed to provide that 
remedy. But it was apprehended that the very combi- 
nation, which his resolutions were intended to destroy, 
would prevent their adoption; and for some time there 
was reason to believe those apprehensions were well 
founded. Mr. Loomis, however, was not discouraged. 
After his election to the assembly in November, 1840, 
he advised with his colleague, Mr. Hoffman, and with 
Mr. Flagg, both of whom concurred in his views. He 
therefore, in the session of 1841, proposed the resolu- 
tions in the assemblv of that vear. They underwent 
some discussion, and the democratic members of that 
assembly voted genei'ally for their adoption ; but, it will 
be recollected that they were during that session in the 
minority. After the adjournment of the legislature in 
1841, many of the democratic newspapers published 
those resolutions at the head of their columns, as a part 
of their creed. They at first denominated them " Loo- 
inis's resolutions ;" but, as we are informed by a friend 
at Little Falls, the editor of the Mohawk Courier was 
requested by Mr. Loomis to change the designation of 
the resolutions from that of " Loomis's resolutions" to 
that of " the people's resolutions." With this request 
he complied, and marked the change in such manner as 
to call , the attention of other editors to the alteration. 

In 1842, Mr. Loomis, being a member, again intro- 
duced these resolutions. After various efforts to pro- 
crastinate, on the 14th of March they came up for dis- 
cussion, when he made an able speech in their favor. 



1842] tJEN. Dix's SPEECH. 289 

Mr. Tamlia, a democratic member from Jefferson coun- 
ty, delivered a speecli in opposition. He was followed 
by Gen. Dix iVom Albany, who attempted to show 
the danger of committing to the legislature unlimited 
power to involve the state in debt, and to mortgage the 
property of their constituents to an indefinite amount ; 
and he concluded an eloquent address, by saying : 

" I do trust gentlemen will look at this question as one 
of principle, and not in reference to its possible bearings 
upon local interests. Sir, the interests of the day are 
fleeting. They are perpetually varying their aspects 
and phases. Men are continually entering into new 
combinations. The local interest of to-day may, by 
change of circumstances, lose its importance to-morrow; 
and he who abandons a great principle for the sake of 
a local interest mav find himself abandoned when he 
least expects it. But principles are eternal ; and he 
who boldly identifies himself with them, spurning away 
all minor considerations, can never fall, for he stands 
upon ground which is impregnable. Or, if be does fall 
for the moment, the excitement by which he has been 
overborne will soon pass away, and he will rise again 
with new honor and strength." 

The ayes and noes were taken on the resolutions, 
and there were 35 ayes and 49 noes. The number of 
those who voted in the affirmative being less than the 
majority of all the members elected to the assembly, the 
motion for the adoption of the resolution (it being a res- 
olution proposing to the people an amendment of the 
constitution) was declared lost ; but it was not in truth 
lost, for the subject continued to excite the attention of 
the community, and to agitate the public mind, until the 
meeting of the constitutional convention in 1846, when 

25 



290 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

it was in substance adopted by that body, and approved 
by the votes of a large majority of the electors of the 
state. 

Xo doubt much interest was felt by the politicians at 
the seat of government, and by the members of the le- 
gislature of both parties, in relation to the selection of a 
candidate for governor. The hunkers were generally 
in favor of the renomination of William C. Bouck, who, 
although beaten at the election in 1840, had received 
several thousand more votes than were cast for the dem- 
ocratic candidates for presidential electors, from which 
an evidence of his personal popularity was inferred ; 
while the radical leaders were rather averse to his nom- 
ination, and preferred some other candidate. Among 
other gentlemen of whom they spoke, Gen. Dix was 
mentioned as a person who would be very acceptable 
to them and to the public in general, but no serious al- 
tercations took place, nor were there any public devel- 
opments of a settled difference of opinion. All mani- 
fested their willingness, and indeed their determination, 
to support such candidate as should be nominated by a 
state convention. 

We have mentioned that during this winter the germs 
of the two parties, hunkers and radicals, began to be 
perceived in the democratic party. At the same time, 
if not before, the whigs afforded evidence that they too 
were splitting into two parties. The particular friends 
of Gov. Seward were more radical in their political prin- 
ciples, and more favorably disposed towards foreigners, 
and especially Irish emigrants, and more inclined to tol- 
erate the peculiar doctrines and principles of the aboli- 
tionists, than some other prominent members of the same 
party. There is a class of men, many of whom by-the- 



1842.] VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY. 291 

by are pure and highly honorable men, who are alarmed 
at any new doctrines or political projects, who abhor all 
innovations, and who seem to believe that the most de- 
cisive evidence of patriotism, and sound and safe policy, 
is an inflexible adherence to things and institutions as 
ihey are, and have been transmitted to us by those who 
have preceded us. Of this last description of men there 
were many among the whigs ; and that portion of the 
whig party may be properly termed conservative whigs, 
while the other class may, with equal propriety, be de- 
nominated radical whigs. If the latter description of 
politicians, whether they be whigs or democrats, some- 
times err, by too much subservience to what they deem 
is or will be most popular among the masses ; the former 
also, in our judgment, frequently, to use the mildest term, 
misjudge, living as they do under a government which 
is a representative democracy, by affecting a disregard 
and contempt for the opinions or even the prejudices of 
the multitude. Hence the whigs were also divided on 
the question in relation to the selection of their candi- 
date for governor. 

Luther Br.\dish, then lieutenant-governor, as pure a 
man as ever lived, was undoubtedly the most prominent 
man of the party, (Gov. Seward being out of the ques- 
tion,) but he was regarded with jealousy and coldness 
bv some of the radical whigs. Both sections of the whig 
party, however, like the two sections of the democratic 
party, generally determined to abide by and support the 
result of the action of a state convention. 

On the 11th of April, the day before the adjournment 
of the legislature, the Virginia controversy, of w^hich 
we have said so much, again excited the attention and 
action of the two houses of the legislature. 



292 POLITICAL IlIrfTOKV (Jl" NKW YORK. [1842. 

Mr. Strong, of the senate, submitted a preamble and 
joint resolution to that body, declaring that stealing a 
slave, contrary to the laws of Virginia, is a crime with- 
in the meaning of the constitution, and directing that 
a copy of this preamble and resolution be transmitted 
to the executive of Virginia. Messrs. Dickinson and 
Hard opposed the adoption of this resolution, but it 
passed by a vote of 16 to 14, all the democratic mem- 
bers voting in the affirmative, except Mr. Bockee. 

On this resolution coming into the assemblv, Mr. 
Seymour moved its reference to the judiciary com- 
mittee, which motion was lost, whereupon Messrs. Da- 
vezac and Townsend advocated a concurrence ; and 
the previous question being moved and sustained, the 
resolution was concurred in by the assembly, — 62 vo- 
ting in the affirmative and 35 in the negative. The vote 
in the assembly was also a party vote, the whigs general- 
ly voting against the resolution and the democrats for it. 
Mr. D. S. Wright refused to vote. We must be ex- 
cused for saying that we are glad to find on the journals 
of the assembly the name of that excellent legislator, 
Calvin T. Hulburt of St. Lawrence, among those who 
voted in the negative. 

The next day Gov. Seward sent a message to the le- 
gislature, in which, after reiterating in a very pointed 
manner the opinions he had formerly expressed on the 
subject, and declaring his adherence to them, he declines 
being the agent of the two houses in transmitting the 
preamble and resolution to the executive of Virginia, 
and recommends to the two houses the selection of 
some other organ of communication between them and 
the executive of "our sister commonwealth." 

The legislature then adjourned to meet again on the 



1842.] STATE PRINTEK. 203 

16th day of August, for the sole purpose of dividing the 
state into congressional districts, in pursuance of a re- 
cent act of congress. Before the adjournment, how- 
ever, the members of each party adopted and issued an 
address to their constituents. 

In the year 1840 a law passed appointing Thurlow 
Weed state printer, in lieu of Edwin Croswell, for the 
term of four years from that time. By the fourth sec- 
tion of the act the secretary of state and comptroller 
were authorized to contract with the printer to the state 
for the printing, " during the term of his appointment," of 
the journals of the two houses, bills, &c., at prices adapt- 
ed to and not exceeding the rates ordinarily charged bv 
printers in Albany for such services. A contract for 
printing was immediately made by the comptroller and 
secretary with Mr. Weed in pursuance of the fourth 
section, in which it was of course stipulated between the 
parties that the contract should continue four years. 

During the session of 1842 a bill was brought in re- 
pealing or materially modifying the act of 1840, removing 
Mr. Weed, and requiring the appointment of a new state 
printer. This bill passed both houses, and was sent to 
the governor for his approval ; but he returned it to the 
assembly with his veto, stating as his principal reason 
that the contract between Mr. Weed and the state offi- 
cers could not be abrogated without the consent as well 
of Mr. Weed as of the state. The bill, on a reconsid- 
eration, passed the assembly by the constitutional ma- 
jbrity, 82 members voting in its favor, and 32 against it, 
but it was lost in the senate, more than one-third in that 
house being opposed to it. 

The governor's veto message certainly did present 
a very grave constitutional question ; and on examining 

25* 



294 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

the journal, we find that Horatio Seymour and that able 
lawyer, Charles Humphrey, although both were demo- 
crats, did not vote on the question. 

Mr. O'SuUivan again introduced a bill for the aboli- 
tion of capital punishment, which he supported with 
renewed zeal and energy, but was finally unsuccessful, 
45 members being for, and 55 against it. We regret to 
perceive the names of Dix, Seymour, and Hoffman 
among those who voted in the negative. 

During the winter and summer of 1842, matters of 

o 

deep interest were discussed and passed upon by the na- 
tional legislature, in which Mr. Wright, as the represen- 
tative in the United States senate from this state, acted 
a distinguished part. 

At the extra session of 1841, a law had been passed 
to fund the treasury notes which had been put afloat, 
and to raise by a loan at six per cent, several millions of 
dollars. By the law, however, the secretary of the 
treasury was prohibited from suffering the stock thus 
created to be negotiated at a price less than par ; the 
consequence of which was, that no money was brought 
into the treasury, and it became embaiTassed. Mr. 
Evans of Maine, who had succeeded Mr. Clay as chair- 
man of the finance committee, reported a bill author- 
izing the stock " to be sold at the highest price which 
could be obtained in market for it." This bill was op- 
posed by Mr. Wright in an able argument, showing, 
among other things, the fatal consequences of suffering 
our stocks to be hawked about in market, and sold under 
tReir par value. He concludes by saying : 

" I may be asked by the friends of this bill, what shall 
be done '? And I admit that the inquiry is fairly made. 
I claim, Mr. President, but a small portion of the wisdom 



1842.] MR. weight's speech. 295 

necessary to answer safely and properly such a ques- 
tion ; but I say, unhesitatingly, do any thing, do nothing, 
rather than pass this bill in its present form. Call back 
the land fund, and pledge it inviolably to sustain your 
credit and meet the interest upon your loans, and then 
fix your stock at par, and give an interest which will 
command the money. I think six per cent, and twenty 
years' time will do it abundantly, and I do not doubt the 
prompt subscription of the amount you require, if books 
were to be opened upon these terms ; but.if six percent, 
would not, seven would. Then you would meet all com- 
petitors fairly in the market, and make the actual value 
of money the standard of success. 

" Bring down your expenses from the twenty-five or 
twenty-six millions per annum, which you now propose, 
to twenty millions, or to eighteen millions, if need be ; re- 
store the land fund to the treasury, and increase it by 
pre-emption and graduation bills, which certainly will 
increase it immediately ; oflfer your fresh lands for sale, 
and live upon the means you can thus command, until 
you can improve your revenue from customs, or obtain 
loans upon terms reasonable in themselves, and which 
will not spread ruin over the states, and prostrate the 
business of the country. Do gentlemen forget that cash 
duties are hereafter to be paid in all cases of revenue 
from customs, and that consequently an increase of the 
tariflfis to be an instant supply of revenue, if the rate of 
duty be made sufficient, and the importations continue ? 
There is no longer to be a system of credits to postpone 
the influence upon the treasury of this part of our legis- 
lation. Why then borrow money for twenty years at 
all ? And certainly, why put the credit of the country 
at auction, when relief is so easily reached, and can so 



296 rOIJTICAL HISTORY OF NEW VoF.K. [l842. 

instantly be made effectual ? If the pledge of the land 
fund does not bring you loans upon reasonable terms, it 
will brinsr vou means to the amount of three millions per 
year at the least, and if improved as suggested, may 
brino- you five, for a period sufficient to enable you to 
improve your other sources of revenue. 

" If these things cannot be done, follow the noble ex- 
ample of New York ; lay taxes, direct or indirect, or 
both ; stop expenditure beyond the means which the 
lands and the eustoms will supply ; fund the outstanding 
treasury notes as you propose to do in this bill, and 
wait until the money-market shall improve, or until you 
can realize an adequacy of means from your improved 
revenues. Again, I say, do any thing, do nothing, rather 
than propose to sell your credit, in the open market, /or 
what it may bring. 

" We are daily told, Mr. President, that our foreign 
relations wear a threatening aspect. I do not pretend 
to be intimately or extensively acquainted with those 
relations, nor have I ever made myself an alarmist re- 
specting them ; but this I do feel authorized to say, that 
there are causes for just uneasiness in more than one 
direction, and especially in our British relations. And 
is such the time we should select to offer the very 
standard of American credit for sale at auction in the 
markets of the world ? Is such the period when we 
should make ourselves willing to put our bond upon 
change in the metropolis of that proud country, guaran- 
tied by the credit and faith and honor of this Union, and 
make our supplicatory appeal to her bankers and brokers 
to give us a bid for it ? I cannot think so." 

A bill was introduced into congress, and passed both 
houses, requiring the several states to pass laws for 



1812.] COXGRESSIOXAL DISTRICTS. 297 

the election of members of congress by single districts. 
This bill Mr. Wright also opposed, not, as we under- 
stand him, on the ground that it was not desirable that 
there should be a uniform mode of election of represen- 
tatives to the national legislature, nor that he was op- 
posed to the division of each state into single congres- 
sional districts ; but because, in his judcrment, congress 
had no power to pass a law commandinsr the states to 
legislate on any given question. Mr. Wright's reason- 
ing on this question is very ingenious. We shall give a 
compendium of his argument, digested by him.self, afford- 
ing ns it does a fine specimen of the action of his clear 
logical mind : 

"Passing the other arguments by which this novel 
enactment is attempted to be sustained, I wish to bring 
the senate, for one moment, to the consideration of the 
great interests — I may almost say, in a political sense, 
estates — involved in this action. • 

" The first, in the constitutional order, was the people 
of the respective states, to whom the right of electing 
representatives to the congress was expressly reserved. 

" The second was the legislatures of the states, upon 
which the duty was devolved, in the absence of any ac- 
tion on the part of congress, to prescribe the regulations 
necessary to enable the ])eople to exercise this great 
constitutional right. 

" The third was congress, upon which a discretionary 
power was conferred to make these regulations, if tl)e 
states did not, or to alter the regulations which the states 
might have made. 

" The first (the people) have thus far enjoyed their 
great right under the regulations of the states — and 
that, too, without injury or complaint. 



298 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

" The second (the states) have acted under the con- 
stitution, and performed the duty enjoined upon them, in 
a way to preserve the right of the people, and its prac- 
tical and beneficial exercise. 

" The third (congress) now comes in, and proposes, 
not to make regulations by its own action — not by its 
own action to alter the regulations which the states 
have made — but to prescribe certain rules by which the 
legislatures of the states shall alter their own regula- 
tions. 

"Congress admits its want of power to compel the 
state legislatures to comply with its prescription, and 
alter their regulations to conform to it. And how does 
it propose to attempt coercion upon them ? By abridg- 
ing any of their powers or privileges ? No ; but by 
forfeiting this great right of the people of the state to 
elect representatives, if their legislature do not comply. 

" Thus the fault is to be either in congress, or in the 
state legislature. The people can coerce neither ; and 
yet the forfeiture for the fault is to be visited upon the 
only innocent party of the three — the people — who can- 
not make the regulations, and whose most essential right 
is to be forfeited if they are not made. Was such ac- 
tion, on the part of congress, constitutional, or wise, or 
expedient ? To his mind, it was neither." 

As, by the operation of the compromise law, the du- 
ties on imports were now reduced to twenty percent., it 
was evident that a sufficient amount of revenue would 
not be produced to defray the current expenses of the 
government. The whigs then held a majority in the 
two houses of congress, and were extremely anxious to 
retain and render effective the law passed at the extra 
session, which provided for a distribution among the re- 



1842.] TARIFF BILL OI 184-2. 299 

spective states of the avails of the land sales. The dis- 
tribution law, as it then stood, contained a proviso, if we 
recollect rightly, tjiat whenever the expenses of the gov- 
ernment should require that a higher duty should be 
levied on any imported ai-ticle than twenty per cent., no 
distribution for land sold should be made. Two bills in 
relation to revenue were passed by congress, in one of 
which a clause was contained repealing the proviso 
attached to the land bill ; and in the other the distribu- 
tion was postponed, but not abandoned. The president 
vetoed both bills. This produced a necessity for con- 
gress to pass 'a new tariff law, having partly for its ob- 
ject an increase of revenue, which of course raised the 
duty on some articles much above twenty per cent. ; and 
a bill for that purpose was introduced. A majority of 
the democratic members of congress, and nearly all the 
southern members, were warmly opposed to raising the 
tariff of duties. 

When this bill came before the senate, Mr. Wright 
found himself extremely embarrassed; and his embarrass- 
ment was increased upon ascertaining the fact that on 
his single vote depended the question whether the bill 
should or should not become a law. On the one hand, 
nearly all his political friends were opposed to the bill, 
and besides, he really and conscientiously disapproved 
of many of its details ; on the other, if, by his vote, he 
should prevent the passage of the bill, as the compro- 
mise act had, as was contended, expired, the nation would 
be left without a revenue ; all the operations of the gov- 
ernment would be interrupted, if not suspended ; and the 
business of the country, particularly the manufacturing 
and commercial business, would be greatly deranged, if 
not prostrated. He therefore determined to vote for the 



300 POLITICAL IlISTOllY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

bill ; but before voting, he delivered an elaborate and 
able speech, in which he explained his position, and the 
reasons which induced him to vote in the affirmative. 
The principal part of his speech, however, is occupied 
in pointing out defects in the system which the bill pro- 
posed to adopt. These defects, he hoped, would at no 
distant day be removed. 

•'The treasury," said Mr. Wright, "is empty; and 
almost daily the public creditors are turned away from 
it without payment. This very congress has increased, 
and is daily increasing, the public expenditures, and 
thus creating the necessity for increased revenues : and 
the public credit is not sinking, but sunken ; so that loans, 
at high interest and at long time, cannot be negotiated 
at home or abroad, upon the declared reason that we 
have not revenues to meet the payment of the public 
liabilities. These changes of circumstances constituted, 
in his mind, the highest necessity for a revenue law, and 
forced upon him, under the most solemn sense of public 
duty, the course of action which he proposed to pursue. 
All he could ask of the friends who should dif!er from 
him, and believe him to be still in error, was, that they 
would believe him to be governed by pure motives ; and 
if in error, to be honestly so. He owed it to those 
friends, as well as to himself, to make another remark ; 
which was, that the consequences of his action, if evil, 
should be visited upon himself alone ; as no friend, here 
or elsewhere, had interfei'ed to bring him to the conclu- 
sion he had pronounced. Many very dear friends, 
whose judgments, upon almost all occasions, he valued 
more highly than his own, had kindly attempted to con- 
vince him that he was in error — not one to urge him to 
give the vote." 



1842.] CHARACTER OF !VrR. WRIGHT 301 

No act of his life endeared Mr. Wright so much to 
the whole people of New York, as the vote he gave on 
this occasion. 

So high was his standing at the seat of the national 
government at this time, and so justly were his charac- 
ter and merits appreciated, that in 1842 the following 
article appeared in the Washington Globe, which fur- 
nishes so accurate and just a description of the man, that 
we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of copying it, 
though there are things in it which might be more ap- 
propriately quoted at the close of this work, where we 
shall attempt to draw a portrait of this distinguished 
statesman. 

" A leading man in the senate and of his party," says 
the Globe, "is Silas Wright. Few men have acquired 
distinguished reputation by such fair means. The esti- 
mation in which he is held by his fellows and by the 
nation, is due to substantial merit alone. He has won 
his way to the highest position, without early advan- 
tages of friends or fortune, and maintained it without 
any of those dazzling qualities which sometimes give 
a false glare to clever mediocrity. He has those provin- 
cial peculiarities of pronunciation and phraseologv that 
characterize the plainer class of New Englanders, from 
which lie has sprung. No man, merely looking at the 
•senate, would designate Silas Wright as one of its chief 
ornaments ; no one, seeing him rise, or hearing his first 
tones, could be made to believe that a distinguished ora- 
tor was addressing that body. Yet no man commands 
greater attention in the senate, or is heard with greater 
acceptation and confidence by the people. What can 
be higher proof of merit than reputation achieved with 
so little extrinsic recommendation? 

26 



302 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [1842, 

" Mr. Wright never discusses a subject without being 
thoroughly master of its principles and details. When 
he speaks, his arrangement, though natural, is so lucid, 
and his manner of communicating his ideas so clear and 
satisfactory, that he captivates all classes of hearers. 
The subject is so stripped of its difficulties, and present- 
ed in a form so striking, and yet so easy, that the lis- 
tener is flattered by the facility with which he compre- 
hends that which before appeared to him so intricate 
and involved. Commencing without pretension, the 
speaker, nevertheless, warms with his subject ; and never 
o'erstepping the modesty of nature, he yet delivers him- 
self with a persuasive earnestness, which gives an air of 
conviction to all that he utters. 

" Mr. Wright never loses his temper, nor is ever be- 
trayed into those indiscretions or extravagances so diffi- 
cult to restrain in the ardor of debate. Let the gale 
blow ever so hard, the ship never refuses to obey her 
helm. On the contrary, the greater the violence of 
winds and waves, the more calm her course, the more 
steady her action. You cannot provoke Mr. Wright 
to an imprudent retort, nor decoy him into an indis- 
creet concession. He replies with the most hopeless 
tranquillity, or fixes his calm eye upon you with resist- 
less penetration. He always knows what he is about, 
and detects, with the promptness of intuitive sagacity, 
the designs of others. He is so wary and provident, 
that he has been described as cunning — a term which is 
not rightly applied to that penetrating sagacity which 
may be exercised with entire fairness and perfect self- 
control, without which great and permanent success 
cannot be achieved in any of the pursuits of life. The 
scriptural precept inculcates the wisdom of the serpent. 



1842.] CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 303 

combined with the innocence of the dove. True saga- 
city is practical wisdom ; while cunning, its miserable 
substitute, in the end never fails to overreach itself 

" Mr. Wright does not speak frequently, nor ever for 
popular effect. He would not compromise, much less 
sacrifice, an important object for the greatest momenta- 
ry triumph. He exerts himself to accomplish his pur- 
poses, not to win the applause of the gallery, or the 
hackneyed tributes of the parasitical purveyors for the 
press. He is a statesman, not an actor ; a senator, not 
a performer. 

" His character presents some singular points of con- 
trast, to which it mav not be amiss to call attention. 
Of humble origin, and the plainest early associations, 
he is yet a model of courtesy in debate, and of delicacy 
in legislative deportment ; the most senatorial of sena- 
tors ; and his style of speaking is of that unostentatious 
dignity which was characterized as the oratio togata. 
Whatever others may prate of birth and fiishion and 
refmetnent, the plain New Yorker is the most gentle- 
manly of senators. Indeed, so admirable is his public 
deportment, that the slightest disrespect shown to him 
would arouse general indignation in the body of which 
he is a member. When forced (which is rarely the case) 
into personal collision, he has given signal proof that 
his forbearance is the result of any thing rather than a 
want of proper spirit. He is endowed with that calm 
and self-sustaining courage, which is so much more re- 
spectable than that uneasy susceptibility which is always 
seekinti or giving offence. 

O O O 

" Another curious opposition is to be found in his pas- 
sion for finance, and yet pecuniary indifference. Figures 
of arithmetic have more charms for him than figures of 



304 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

ihetoric. He revels in numbers, and has the art of ar- 
raneinff them in such form as to make them even attrac- 
live. As chairman of the committee on finance, the 
promptitude and clearness of his explanations elicited uni- 
versal admiration. Fev^ will forget the masterly manner 
in which he explained and vindicated from ignoi'ant as- 
saults the safety-fund system of New York, — a system 
which, whatever may be its defects, has preserved that 
state, in a great degree, from those financial calamities 
which have produced so much ruin elsewhere. Old 
Elwas, the miser, used to say he was fond of the speeches 
of Mr. Pitt, because they were so full of pounds, shil- 
lings, and pence. He would have heard those of Mr. 
Wright with equal gratification. Yet, like Mr. Pitt, the 
American financier manifests a disregard for money. 

" It is curious to remark how different are the study 
and pursuit of wealth. The most skilful banker and suc- 
cessful merchant are often entirely ignorant of the prin- 
ciples of finance, or the laws of trade. Such were 
Dexter and Girard, and many others who might be cited. 
On the contrary, our country presents the remarkable 
instances of Hamilton and the elder Dallas, both accom- 
pHahed financiers, and both alike neglectful of their per- 
sonal interests. Although for a longtime superintending 
the financial affairs of the great state of New York, and 
afterwards so conspicuously connected with the fiscal 
affairsof the general government, Mr. Wright has never 
endeavored to increase his little peculium. This con- 
sists chiefly of a small farm near the St. Lawrence, which 
is in a great degree cultivated by his own hands. There 
he may be seen plying the spade or wheeling the barrow 
in primitive simplicity. There is no ostentation of hu- 
mility in this ; for, without the slightest tincture of agra- 



1842. J CHARACTER OF MR. WEIGHT. 305 

rian or anti-social notions, he is a republican of the sim- 
plest and straitest sect, not only in opinion, but in habits 
and feelings. He ' mends his fences' without talking 
about them, and is a farmer, without canting about agri- 
culture in the senate. In this age of selfishness and 
of speculation, and unscrupulous thirst for wealth, it is 
refreshing to find an American statesman of the highest 
rank, who would have done honor to the early and un- 
corrupt days of the Roman republic. 

"Aijain: although Mr. Wright is a warv and saga- 
cious politician, he seems to have no projects or even 
desires of personal advancement. His ambition, if he 
have any, is for the success of his principles, his party, 
his friends. He seems to regard himself as an instru- 
ment, and a very able one he is, for others. Neither 
side ever suspects him of laboring for his own ends. It 
is indeed curious, that with such abilities and such rep- 
utation, he should be so entirely devoid of personal as- 
pirations. His devotion to the late president was as 
unbounded as disinterested ; and whatever may be 
thought of Mr. Van Buren by his opponents, it cannot 
be asserted that he did not return the attachment with 
fraternal warmth. If I have dwelt with such emphasis 
upon the character of the senator from New York, it is 
because its traits are as ample and attractive as they are 
rare in our day and generation. Who would not take 
pleasure in praising a man who seems utterly forgetful 
of self — whose public course has ever been as blame- 
less as it is shining and elevated ? There are men with 
more genius and more striking qualities than Silas 
Wright — none of more substantial talent and practical 
wisdom and virtuous character." 

While Mr. Wright was gathering these golden opin- 

26* 



306 POLITICAI, HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 

ions from all those who witnessed his action on that 
great theatre, the senate of the United States, he uni- 
fornaly declined all invitations to attend meetings which 
were often projected for the purpose of affording a dem- 
onstration of personal regard for him. We notice, 
among many other invitations, all of which he declined 
to accept, that of James W. M'Keon and others, being 
a committee of the democratic young men of the city 
of New York, inviting him to accept a public dinner in 
that city, and his reply declining the invitation. That 
reply is so fine a specimen of unaffected modesty as to 
induce a wish that we had room to insert it. We can, 
however, only copy the following paragraphs : 

" I find myself," says Mr. Wright, " compelled to ask 
to be excused from accepting the invitation to a public 
dinner. Various reasons, public and private, make this 
a duty. As reasons private and personal to myself, I 
find my health somewhat impaired, and my strength ex- 
hausted by the long and tedious confinement we have 
been compelled to undergo here, from the spring to the 
fall, in this warm climate; and never have I felt so 
strongly the necessity of mental repose. My private 
duties, too, are calling me to my home with unusual 
force, and forbid any delay upon my journey there, 
which an attention to those duties does not demand. 

"A further private consideration with me for decli- 
ning your invitation, as I have declined all similar ones 
coming from my democratic constituents, is the deep 
consciousness I cannot fail to feel that I have already 
received honors and advancements from them far be- 
yond any to which my humble public services could of 
right have laid a claim; and that it is my plain duty 
rather to redouble my exertions to discharge the deep 



1842.] Wright's letter to jtiiiiK fine. 307 

debt of obligations now resting against me, than to ap- 
propriate to myself further honors, even tiiough volun- 
tarily and generously tendered, as in the case your letter 
presents." 

He then proceeds to express, with great frankness, his 
views on the great questions which at that time agita- 
ted the public mind. 

We have heretofore stated that some of the radical 
democrats at Albany, during the session of the legisla- 
ture, seemed disinclined to favor the renomination of 
Mr. Bouck for governor, but previous to the meeting of 
the state convention, information from the country con- 
vinced every one that the public sentiment in his favor 
was too strong and too unanimous to be resisted. In 
the state convention, therefore, which assembled at Sy- 
racuse on the 7th of September, scarcely the semblance 
of opposition was perceptible. Mr. Wright was the fa- 
vorite candidate of the radicals ; but some time before 
the meeting of the convention, he forwarded from 
Washington to Judge Fine, who was a delegate from 
St. Lawrence county, a letter, of which the following is 
a copy, peremptorily declining to be a candidate for the 
office of governor in the convention, or before the 
people : 

" Washington, iOth July, 1842. 
"My dear Judge : 

" Your most acceptable favor of the 25th came to me 
this morning. I thank you for it, and most especially 
for your frank, practical, and friendly views as to my- 
self so far as the office of governor is concerned. I have 
been repeatedly addressed upon that subject during our 
session by some of the best of our friends, and have in- 



308 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

variably told them I could not be a candidate for that 
high office. Among the correspondents who have called 
upon me in relation to that office, is my old and faithful 
friend, Hoffinan, and to him I gave a positive denial, 
and detailed fully the reasons upon which my determi- 
nation rested. I rejoice to know that my good friends 
in our own county agree with me in the conclusion as 
to what is my duty upon this point. I cannot suppose, 
after the letters 1 have written, that any portion of our 
friends will think of using my name ; but if that should 
be so, I would prefer that the delegates from our own 
county should possess the evidence, and be authorized to 
speak for me upon this point. I therefore say to you, 
that I cannot he a candidate for the office of governor, 
and wish you to pronounce this conclusion, if my name 
shall be proposed, as I hope and believe it will not be. 
My reasons for this determination would fill a long let- 
ter, though I believe they would satisfy any friend I 
have if I could give them ; but as I am at this moment 
suffering under the loss of a most favored and worthy 
sister, the news of whose death reached me by the mail 
of yesterday, I am sure you will excuse me from enter- 
ing upon those reasons at this time, as well as from a 
present reply to the other portions of your letter. 

" Most truly yours, 

" Silas Wright, Jr. 
"Hon. John Fine." 

The following is the brief account given in the Alba- 
ny Argus of the proceedings of the convention : 

" The convention was called to order by the Hon, John 
Fine of St. Lawrence, on whose motion the Hon. Nicoll 
Halsey of Tompkins was chosen president pro tem., and 



1842.] SYRACUSE CONVENTION. 309 

Amasa J. Parker, of Delaware, and Horatio Ballard, of 
Cortland, secretaries. 

" The coinniittee appointed for that purpose reported 
the following as the otficers of the convention, ami they 
were chosen accordingly, viz : — President : lion. John 
Fine of St. Lawrence. — Vice-Presidents : William B. 
Maclay, 1st district; John W. Lawrence, 2d; Martin 
Grover, 6th ; Ambrose Salisbury, 7th ; E. D. Efner, 
8th. — Secretaries : H. H. Van Dyck, 3d district ; Wil- 
Ham F. Allen, 5th. 

" Proceeding to a nomination for governor and lieuten- 
ant-governor, the delegates, as the counties were respec- 
tively called, rose and openly nominated William C. 
Bouck and Daniel S. Dickinson ; and they were nomi- 
nated with entire unanimity, and by acclamation. 

" An address and resolutions were adopted. 

"The convention was eloquently addressed by the 
Hon. R. D. Davis of Dutchess ; and all the proceedings 
were witnessed by a crowded and gratified auditory. 

"The convention completed all their business, and 
adjourned in the afternoon. 

" The utmost harmony and good feeling pervaded the 
convention ; and an enthusiastic spirit is abroad that 
will be found irresistible." 

Mr. Dickinson was a resident of Binghamton, in the 
county of Broome. He was favorably known formerly 
as an active and energetic member of the legislature, 
and as an ardent and efficient supporter of the New 
York and Erie Railroad. Thus it happened that the 
choice fell upon men intimately associated with two 
great interests : — Mr. Bouck, from his long and ap- 
proved services, was a favorite of those more imme- 
diately interested in our canal policy, and Mr. Dickinson 



310 



POLITKAL IIl.-TO;tV OF NEW YORK. [1842. 



had distinguished himself as the friend of tlie great 
southwestern railroad improvement. So far as these 
interests were concerned, the ticket was a strong one. 

The whig state convention also met on the 7th of 
Septemher. Charles H. Carroll, of Livingston, was 
chosen president, and there were eight vice-presidents 
and four secretaries appointed. 

Luther Bradish, the late lieutenant-governor, was 
nominated for the office of governor, and Gabriel Fur- 
man of Kings county, for that of lieutenant-governor. 
These nominations were made with great apparent una- 
nimity. Certainly, so far as related to personal worth, both 
gentlemen were entitled to high consideration. Of Mr. 
Bradish we have frequently spoken ; and as respects 
Mr. Furman, there are few men in the state who are 
more highly esteemed, and we may say beloved, by his 
friends and acquaintance. 

Mr. Collier, the late comptroller, had been spoken of 
by many of his friends as a suitable candidate for gov- 
ernor, and the editor of the Evening Journal says the 
convention would have unanimously nominated him for 
lieutenant-governor had he not peremptorily declined 
being a candidate. 

The convention nominated, with acclamation, Henry 
Clay for the next president, and recommended a whig 
national convention to assemble at Baltimore for the 
nomination of a vice-president, thereby indicating that 
public opinion had settled the question in relation to the 
whig candidate for the presidency. 

The leading resolution, as respects the measures of 
the state, adopted by the convention, condemned in a 
manner the most spirited the state tax and a suspension 
of the public works. A resolution was also adopted ap- 



^-f. 



"M 



J 




^■""^^^^^m^^'^^'' 



'^.f,^ {:' / ,,//4f'' ^' 




1842.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 311 

proving of the administration of Gov. Seward, and ex- 
pressing the warmest gratitude for his services. 

We observe that the veteran poHtician, Gen. Root, 
w^ in attendance as a delegate from the county of Del- 
aware. 

The candidates on both sides were now fairly in 
the field, and the campaign was opened with great 
vigor. 

Alvan Stewart, a distinguished opponent to slavery, 
was the abolition candidate for governor. Heretofore 
the abolitionists had not acted as a political party, so far 
as in all cases to hold up candidates of their own. The 
course they had pursrued was to interrogate the candi- 
dates nominated by the respective parties, and those of 
them who voted at all cast their votes for such candi- 
dates as answered most satislactorily to them. But at a 
general convention lately held, that party resolved to 
nominate candidates of their own in all the towns, 
counties, and districts where there were any abolition- 
ists. 

It may be proper here to remark, that Mr. John C. 
Spencer, shortly before the election, visited his friends 
in this state ; that jt was understood that he was in favor 
of the democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant- 
governor ; and those in this state w^ho claimed to be the 
friends of Mr. John Tyler generally voted with the 
democratic party. 

The election resulted in the complete triumph of the 
democratic party in the state. There were 401,426 
votes given for governor, of which William C. Bouck 
received 208,072, and Luther Bradish 186,091 ; thus 
leaving for Mr. Bouck a majority of more than twenty- 
one thousand, Mr. Stewart received 7,263 votes. The 



312 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOltK. [1842. 

democrats succeeded in all the senate districts, except 
the eighth, and elected ninety-three members of the as- 
sembly. 

John A. Lott was elected from the first senatorial dis- 
trict, in the place of Gabriel Fm-man ; Abraham A. 
Deyo, from the second, in the place of Daniel Johnson ; 
John C. Wright, from the third, in the place of Alonzo 
C. Paige ; Thomas B. Mitchell and Sidney Lawrence, 
from the fourth, in the place of Bethuel Peck, and of 
John W. Taylor, resigned ; Carlos P. Scovil, from the 
fifth, in the place of Joseph Clark ; Calvin T. Chamber- 
lain, from the sixth, in the place of Alvah Hunt ; John 
Porter, from the seventh, in the place of Robert Nicho- 
las ; and Harvey Putnam, from the eighth, in the place 
of Henry Hawkins. Messrs. Hulburt from St. Law- 
rence, Hathaway from Chemung, McMurray and Jones 
from New York, and Leland from Steuben, were re- 
elected. 

Among the most distinguished new members which 
were returned, was Willis Hall, late attorney-general, 
who was elected by the whigs of Albany, and Edward 
Sanford, son of the late Chancellor Sanford, who was 
chosen by the democrats of the city of New -York. 

Note. — After we had completed this chapter, we received from a gen- 
tloman from whom we had solicited information, a communication pre- 
senting his views of the proceedings of 1842. It is now too late, without 
great lahor, to weave into this chapter the facts stated hi the letter of our 
friend. But as the letter contains some interesting and important facts 
and suggestions not heretofore stated, we hope we shall be excused for in- 
serting the whole of it. Its author was an active and efficient, though a 
young member of the assembly, during the year about which he writes, 
and is justly distinguished for his talents and private worth. It is proper 
to sav, however, that he was and is a leader in that section of the demo- 
cratic party we have denominated Hunkers, and therefore, although a gen- 
tleinaii of great candor and unquestionable veracity, may possibly, iusoiiie 



1842.] NOMINATIONS IN CAUCUS. 3 ' -T 

instances, view persoijp and events through a prejudiced medium. It is 
proper to add, that we have ventured to pubhsh this letter without con- 
sulting the author. 

" The democratic party regained its ascendency in the legislature of the 
aate in the fall election of 1841. The senate was composed of 17 demo- 
crats and 15 whigs ; the assembly of 9.T democrats and 33 whigs. The 
assembly contained an unusual number of prominent men and experienced 
legislators. At that time I knew but little about the politics of the state, 
or of the relationship in which prominent men stood with respect to each 
other. Whatever private jealousies might have existed at that time, there 
wa.<i no defined or organized division in the democratic ranks. Th'' piirty 
never stood upon stron<rer ground. The whigs were overthrown because 
they had lost the public confidence by their injudicious and extravagant 
policy. The only exhibition of partisan feeling in the democratic caucus 
wa^ on the part i«f Mr. Flagg and others, in oppo.sing tl^ appointment 
of Mr. Bi'ardsley to the office of attorney-general. This occasioned some 
feeling on the part of .Mr. Boardsley's friends, as that gentleman was a 
member of the state cabinet with Mr. Flagg prior to 1837, and went out 
of office with him wlun the whigs obtained the political power of the 
state. No opposition was made to Mr. Flagg's rcappointmi'nt ; he was 
unanimously nominated in the democratic caucus on the first ballot. The 
following statement of the balloting for the other state officers shows there 
was no organized division in the democratic ranks, — such organizations 
usually reducing the number of candidates for each office to two : 

For Secretary of State. 

Ill ballul. 2d ballot. 3J baOoC 

Samuel Young, 49 58 

Samuel W.Jones, 23 28 

Ebenezer Mack, 19 13 

John B. Skinner, 13 7 

For Attorney-general. 

George P. Barker, 26 37 68 

Samuel Beardsley, 23 18 2 

Robert H. Morris, 22 34 35 

A. J. Parker, 10 8 1 

H. L. Hogeboom, 6 5 

F. G. Jewett, 8 4 

John B. Skinner, 10 • 1 

" Thomas Farrington was elected State Treasurer over three competitore, 
and Nathaniel Jones Surveyor-general, over six other candidates. 

27 



314 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 

" The great measure of the session was Mr. Hofljiian's bill in relation to 
the finances. The condition and polic}' of the state was discussed with 
great ability, principally by Mr. Hoffman, who was the leader of the 
house. The debates upon this subject will show the considerations which 
were involved in this discussion. Whatever obscurity there may be about 
the positions held by parties with regard to our internal improvements 
prior to this time, there was none at this sessijn. The democratic mem- 
bers were in favor of stopping the public works, and of imposing a tax to 
restore the state credit. The whigs were opposed to both of these propo- 
sitions. They believed that they would bo so unpopular that another po- 
litical revolution would be produced. When the vote was taken in the 
committee of the whole, Mr. Hunt, a whig member, moved to amend the 
bill by inserting a provision for appropriations for the unfinished canals, and 
also to strike out that portion of the bill which provided for the imposition 
of a tax. These amendments were supported by all the whigs, and op- 
posed by all the democrats. These amendments were substantially re- 
newed in the senate by a whig member, and were rejected there by a 
similar party vote. The final vote on the hill in both houses was of the 
same party character. To the democratic party, therefore, belongs the 
credit of maintaining at this crisis the faith of the state, and of setting an 
example worthy of her position to other and defaulting states, by boldly 
stopping expenditures aiitl imposing a tax upon the people. At the time 
this was regarded as a hazardous measure, and too mtioh credit cannot 
bo awarded to Mr. Hoffrnan for the ability and courage manifested by him 
in its support. 

" Messrs. Hoffman, Flagg, Young, and Dix were opposed to the re- 
noniinatiou of Mr. Bouck at the state convention which was to assemble 
in the autumn of that year at Syracuse. This opposition was freely ex- 
pressed in conversation during the session of tho legislature. When the 
convention assembled at Syracuse, it was found there was a decided ma- 
joritj- for Mr. Bouck. In the election of 1840, he had run ahead of his 
ticket, which circumstance undoubtedly contributed to his strength in the 
state convention. The published proceedings of that body throw but little 
light upon the position of parties, as an informal and private meeting of 
the delegates was held, at which every thing was determined. There 
were some of tho delegates who were in favor of nominating Mr. Wright 
at that time." 



1843.] ELECTION OF SPEAKER. 315 



CHAPTER XII. 

George R. Davis nominated and elected Speaker — (Governor's Message — 
Gov. Bouck's Birth and Education — Lyman Sanford appointed Adju- 
tant-general — Agitation of the Presidential Question at Washington — 
Proceedings on board the Brig Somers, and death of Mr. Philip Spencer 
— South Carolina Legislature nominate Mr. Calhoun for President — 
Character of the State Officers in 1823 — Course of the Governor — Con- 
test respectlnif State Printer — E. Croswell, H. H. Van Dyck — E. Cros- 
well appointed State Printer — Albany Atlas — Mr. Wright re-elected 
United States Senator — Mr. Dickinson's Resolution in relation to the 
conduct of Gov. Bouck as Canal Commissioner — The distribution of the 
Books containing the result of the Geological Survey — Young and 
Dickinson — Bill for abolishing the Office of Bank Commissioner — Re- 
jection by the Senate of nominations made by the Governor. 

The legislature assembled on the third day of Janua- 
ry, 1843, and on the evening previous a caucus was 
held by the democratic members of the assembly, for 
the purpose of selecting the officers of that house. 
George R. Davis, of Rensselaer county, the same gen- 
tleman who in 1831 was chosen and officiated as speak- 
er, was unanimously nominated for the same office in 
the caucus, and without a ballot ; but in selecting a can- 
didate for clerk, there appeared to be some difference of 
opinion. On the first ballot Henry N. Wales, of Albany, 
received 47 votes, which was not a majority of all the 
votes cast. On the second ballot William W. Dean, of 
Otsego, received 29 votes, and Mr. Wales 53, who was 
thereupon declared duly nominated. 

The new governor began his message by declaring 
that he regarded the public welfare above all mere par- 



316 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l848. 

ty considerations. "If I do not very much mistake," 
says the governor, " the feelings of the people, they de- 
sire repose from high party excitements, and exemption 
from those frequent changes in public measures that 
affect the business relations of the country ; and I indulge 
the confident hope that the legislature will co-operate 
with me in acting upon the principle of placing the pub- 
lic welfare above all mere party considerations." 

As respects the relations of the states with the gen- 
eral government, the governor denounces several of the 
late acts of congress as unconstitutional encroachments 
on the independence of the states. He says : 

"Within the last two years, there have, in my judg- 
ment, been several unwarrantable assumptions of power 
on the part of the federal government. The right to 
collect money from the people in any form, for the pur- 
pose of distributing the same among the states, has not 
been delegated to the general government. So long as 
the whole revenue of the United States is required for 
the purpose of carrying on the operations of the gov- 
ernment, it matters not what particular moneys are 
taken from the treasury for the purpose of distribution. 
Whether it be the proceeds of the sales of the public 
lands, or the same amount of money collected from im- 
posts, or by direct taxation, it is nothing less than col- 
lecting money from the people, for the purpose of re- 
turning a portion of it to them in another form." 

He also complains of the late law of congress requi- 
ring the legislature of each state to pass laws for the 
election of members of the United States house of rep- 
resentatives by single districts, and of the general bank- 
rupt law. He intimates an opinion that that part of the 
last-mentioned statute which permits a bankru})t to be 



1843.1 governor's message. 317 

discharged from his debts, without the consent of his 
creditors, is unconstitutional. While the governor, with 
respect to the subjects just alluded to, manifests a lauda- 
ble and vigilant care for the preservation of the inde- 
pendence of the states, he acquiesces with philosophical 
resignation and tokens of approbation in the decision of 
the Supreme Court of the United States, that the law 
of this state which secured to the people of color who 
claimed the right guarantied to the citizens of the Uni- 
ted States, of trial by a jury of the country, when their 
personal liberty, and indeed the right to their own per- 
sons were drawn in question, was unconstitutional and 
void. The governor therefore recommends the repeal 
of all the laws of this state which afford to the negro 
claimed to be a fugitive from service, any opportunity 
of defending himself in this state against such claim. 

On the subject of the joint resolution, proposed by Mr. 
Strong, which Governor Seward refused to forward to 
the executive of Virginia, as related in the last chapter, 
Mr. Bouck says : 

" The federal constitution has also provided, that ' a 
person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in an- 
other state, shall, on demand of the executive authority 
of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.' 
At the last session of the legislature, a concurrent reso- 
lution was adopted by the two houses, declaring ' that in 
the opinion of this legislature, stealing a slave within the 
jurisdiction and against the laws of Virginia, is a crime 
within the meaning of the second section of the fourth 
article of the constitution of the United States.' I deem 
it proper to say, that this resolution fully accords with 

27* 



«> 



13 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 



my own judgment. Although such an act may not be 
forbidden by our laws, the stealing of a slave has been 
declared to be a crime in other states ; and if a trans- 
gressor of their criminal laws flee within our jurisdic- 
tion, we are bound by compact not to screen him." 

With respect to internal improvements, the governor 
said : 

" 1 recommend to your careful and attentive consider- 
ation the subject of internal improvements by roads and 
canals, which are eminently calculated to aid the enter- 
prise and promote the welfare of the people. There 
are few subjects in which our citizens feel a deeper in- 
terest, or that are more intimately connected with the 
character and prosperity of the state. But in making 
this suggestion, I must not be understood as recom- 
mending extravagant expenditures, or ill-advised under- 
takings. The system should have for its object the 
general welfare, and as far as may be practicable, should 
be based on an equal distribution of the means of the 
state for such purposes." 

He states that the loans by the state to railroad com- 
panies amounted to $5,235,700. He informed the legis- 
lature that the New York and Erie Raih'oad company, 
to whom the state had loaned three millions of dollars, 
and the Ithaca and Owego and Canajoharie and Catts- 
kill companies, had failed to pay the interest on their 
loans from the state ; that in consequence of this de- 
fault " the two latter had been sold at auction, and that 
the sale of the former was postponed till the first Tues- 
day of May then next." 

The governor rather timidly indicated, that in his 
judgment a less stringent course should be pursued in 
regard to canal expenditures, especially in completing 



1843.] governor's message. 319 

the works already commenced, than was authorized by 
the financial act of 1842. He says : 

"I am convinced that the completion of the unfinish- 
ed work at the Schoharie creek, at Spraker's, at Cana- 
joharie. Fort Plain, the Indian Castle creek, at Syracuse, 
the work connected with the reduction of the Jordan 
level, at Macedon, and at Lockport, would be essen- 
tially useful, and some of it may be indispensably ne- 
cessary. 

" The .speedy completion of the Black River Canal 
and feeder to and including the summit level, and the 
Genesee Valley Canal, as far as the first feeder from the 
Genesee river south of Portage, is doubtless anxiously 
desired by the friends of these improvements. I do not 
feel that T should faithfully discharije my dutv did I not 
recommend for your careful consideration these portions 
of the public works. This should of course be done 
with strict reference to the financial condition of the 
state. 

" The present low prices of labor and provisions are 
highly favorable to a successful prosecution of the works 
now under contract, and they should be resumed as soon 
as a just regard to the public welfare will permit. But 
great caution should be observed in increasing the 
state debt, alroady too large. That the stale has the 
ability eventually to complete all her works which 
have been commenced, cannot, in my opinion, be ques- 
tioned." 

The governor states the public debt, exclusive of the 
available means in the hands of the commissioners of 
the canal fund, to be $23,330,083.15. He also states 
that " the revenue for the year ending the 30th Septem- 
ber last, has been materiallv aflfected by a reduction in 



320 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

canal tolls, and in the auction and salt duties, as com- 
pared with the preceding year. 

" The tolls are less by - - $192,968 86 
" The auction duties are less by 6,417 59 

" The salt duties " " - 15,472 35 



$214,858 80 

" How these essential items of revenue are to be af- 
fected by the business of the current year, it is impos- 
sible now to say. If the general prosperity of the 
country should assume a more favorable aspect, as I 
trust it will, it would favorably affect these items of rev- 
enue. It is not probable that the receipts from these 
sources will be diminished." 

The event showed that he was not mistaken in the 
opinion that the receipts from these sources w^ould not 
"be diminished" during the coming year. They were 
considerably increased. 

The governor states that the Supreme Court, and 
more especially the Court of Chancery, are overloaded 
with business ; that the labors required to be performed 
by the judges of these courts are greater than it is pos- 
sible to execute ; that an increase of force is absolutely 
necessary ; and that if an adequate remedy cannot be 
provided by law, an amendment to the constitution 
ought to be proposed, which v^^ould accomplish an ob- 
ject so desirable and in fact indispensably necessary. 

Towards the close of his message he gives in a con- 
densed form some interesting statistics, showing the 
agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing condition 
and resources of the state. He says : 

" It appears by the last census, that the population of 
the United States amounts to 17,068,666, of which the 



1843.] governor's message. 321 

state of New York has 2,428,917, equal to more than 
one-eighth of the whole population. 

" The number of bushels of grain raised is 615,525,302, 
of which this state has 51,721,827, equal to nearly one- 
twelfth part of the whole. 

" The number of heads of live-stock is 74,264,322, 
of which this state has 10,128,042, equal to about one- 
seventh part. 

" The number of pounds of wool produced is 35,802,1 14, 
of which this state is entitled to 9,845,295, equal to one- 
fourth. 

" The number of commercial houses engaged in the 
foreign trade is 1,108, of which there are in this state 
469, equal to something less than one-half 

"Thecapitalinvested in foreign trade is $119,295,367, 
of which there belongs to this state $49,583,001, equal 
to nearly one-half 

" There are 4,005 woollen manufactories of all kinds, 
of which there are in this state 1,213, equal to more than 
one-fourth. 

" The aggregate value of woollen goods manufactured 
is estimated at $20,696,999, of which this state has 
$3,537,337, equal to about one-sixth part. 

"In the manufacture of woollen there are 21,343 per- 
sons employed, and in this state 4,336, equal to one-fifth. 

"The capital employed is $15,765,124, and in this 
state $3,469,349, equal to more than one-fifth. 

" The value of cotton-manufactured articles is esti- 
mated at $46,350,453, and in this state at $3,640,237, 
equal to about one-thirteenth part. 

" The number of persons employed in the cotton man- 
ufactories is estimated at 72,192, and in this state at 
7,407, equal to about one-tenth. 



322 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOKK. [1843. 

" The capital employed is estimated at 851,102,359, 
of which this state has 84,900,772, equal to about one- 
tenth." 

The message, as a whole, is a good one. It presents 
clearly and with great plainness, the condition and re- 
sources of the state, and invites the attention of the 
legislature to such measures as the public interest seemed 
to require. It makes no attempt at display : its author 
does not appear to make any effort to divert the attention 
of the lefjislature from the real and substantial interest 
of the community to himself It has another merit, and 
that is its brevity. So multifarious are the concerns of 
this great state, that, bating a few paragraphs in the first 
part of the address, which seem rather calculated for 
the edification of the people who reside in a latitude 
south of the state of New York than of those who reside 
in it, it was not possible to make it more brief 

William C. Bouck is a native of the county of Scho- 
harie. His father was an industrious and respectable 
farmer, living on the banks of the Schoharie creek. The 
femilv were of German origin, and Gov. Bouck was 
brought up on his father's farm, and accustomed to man- 
ual labor. He had received a good English education, 
hut never had an opportunity of acquiring much classi- 
cal learning. The counties of Schoharie and Otsego 
are emphatically interior and isolated counties, and their 
inhabitants, especially the agricultural part of them, 
have little intercourse with the rest of the world, or in- 
deed of the state of New York. This was the condi- 
tion of Mr. Bouck when he became of age. But his native 
intellectual powers and his active mind soon attracted the 
attention of his neighbors and fellow-citizens, and he 
was, while yet young, appointed sheriff of the county of 



1843.] WILLIAM C. BOITCK. 323 

Schoharie. The discharge of the duties of that office 
soon made him known throughout the county, and 
wherever he was known he was esteemed and respect- 
ed. When his term of office as sheriff" expired, he was 
elected a member of the assembly of this state, and in 
1817 he was chosen one of the senators from what was 
then called the middle district. As his acquaintance 
extended, his reputation for capacity and integrity in- 
creased, and in 1821 he was appointed by the legislature 
canal commissioner, an office the duties of which he for 
many years discharged with great fidelity, and in a man- 
ner creditable to himself and beneficial and satisfactory 
to the community. His conduct as canal commissioner 
had secured him many ardent and zealous friends, con- 
sisting mainly of those who had transacted business with 
him in his official capacity ; and to the number and influ- 
ence of those friends he was undoubtedly greatlv in- 
debted for his nomination and election as governor. Mr. 
Bouck was the first and only governor of this state who 
had not been bred a lawyer, — he being a practical farmer. 
That Mr. Bouck possesses a large share of good sense, 
prudence, and discretion, is evident to all who are ac- 
quainted with him. Indeed, a moment's reflection will 
convince any person that a man brought up in an inte- 
rior county, in a secluded neighborhood, without the 
benefit of a liberal education, or in fact much reading, 
w^ho should for thirty years, without the aid of pow^erful 
friends and relatives, continue to rise from one grade to 
another, until, by the voluntary suffrages of his fellow- 
citizens, he should become governor of a state contain- 
ing nearly three millions of people, must not only have 
been master of an excellent address, but have possessed 
great native mental power. 



324 POLITFCAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

But when Mr. Bouck reflected that he then was 
placed in a seat which had been occupied by George 
CHnton, John Jay, De Witt CHnton, Martin Van Buren, 
William L. Marcy, and others, the most accomplished 
scholars, jurists, and statesmen which the country has 
produced, and considered his own want of literary attain- 
ments and legal knowledge, a circumstance to which he 
modestly alludes in the message we have been review- 
ing, there can be no doubt he felt some embarrassment, 
and that that embarrassment produced a corresponding 
degree of timidity and diffidence. That timidity must 
have been increased when he reflected that there were 
several men around him, distinguished members of his 
own political party, who were critically watching all his 
movements, and who, if they had not opposed, had cer- 
tainly viewed with coldness, his nomination by a major- 
ity of the democratic party. If he had any jealousy in 
his nature — if he was in the least constitutionally sus- 
picious — the situation in which he was placed was cal- 
culated to call into action that jealousy and awaken sus- 
picion. There was another circumstance which must 
have rendered his position unpleasant. We have stated 
that many of his most zealous friends resided on the 
borders of the Erie, and we may add on the Genesee 
Valley and Black River canals. A large portion of those 
friends were dissatisfied with the total suspension of the 
public works, and they hoped, and probably had reason 
to hope, that if Mr. Bouck was elected governor, those 
works would be partially resumed. He knew that a 
large majority of the democratic party were opposed to 
such resumption. But could he entirely thwart the ex- 
pectations of his warmest and most devoted friends, with 
whose wishes undoubtedlv the bias of his own mind ac- 



1843.] APPOINTMENT OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 325 

jcorded ? An attentive and sagacious reader of his first 
message cannot fail of perceiving that in writing this 
message these conflicting claims upon his official action 
pressed upon his mind with deep and anxious solici- 
tude. 

In concluding our remarks on Gov. Bouck, it is in- 
cumbent on us to mention one other trait in his charac- 
ter — a trait highly estimable in that of private citizens, 
and not less commendable, though it is to be feared more 
rare in men possessing power and patronage ; we mean 
fidelity to a friend. We do not believe that man ever 
lived to whom Gov. Bouck professed a friendship which 
he did not feel. He, it is true, may have held out en- 
couragements to friends of advancements and patronage, 
which the want of power, or a stern political necessity 
prevented him from bestowing, but never did he, in our 
judgment, misrepresent his real intentions and feelings. 

We have dwelt longer on the position of Gov. Bouck, 
when he commenced his administration, than we other- 
wise should have done, did we not believe that it had a 
material effect in producing the schism which soon after 
occurred in the democratic party. 

The whigs were fully aware of all this, and as they 
approved of that policy which they believed Mr. Bouck 
was inclined to adopt, rather than that of the radicals, 
their attacks upon him were less severe, and some of 
them seemed inclined to pursue towards him a concilia- 
tory course. Hence the movements of Gen. Root in 
the senate, soon after the commencement of the session, 
indicated more of a friendly than a hostile intent. 

Immediately on his accession to office, the governor 
appointed Lyman Sanford, of Schoharie county, adju- 
tant-general, and David Hamilton, of Albany county, 

28 



326 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

William H. Brown, of Queens county, and J. W. Nel- 
son, (son of Judge Nelson,) of Otsego county, his aids. 
G. W. Bouck, a very worthy young man, (son of the 
governor,) was appointed military secretary. 

The only office worthy of the name of office, and to 
which a salary is attached, which the constitution of 
1821 left at the sole disposal of the governor, was that of 
adjutant-general. The aids and military secretary are 
merely nominal and complimentary appointments. 

All the details of the duty of the governor as com- 
mander-in-chief of the militia, and all his correspondence 
on the subject of the militia, are performed and carried 
on by the adjutant-general. He is also supposed to be, 
and generally is, the confidential executive officer and 
friend of the governor. 

The appointment of aids and military secretary was 
undoubtedly judicious, and was well received, but con- 
siderable discontent was felt in relation to the selection 
of the person whom the governor had chosen for adjutant- 
general. 

Mr. Sanford was a respectable lawyer and citizen of 
Schoharie, but he was the son-in-law of Mr. Bouck, and 
there were many influential and powerful applicants for 
the office, and who, of course, were chagrined at their 
disappointment. Among others, Mr. Sherwood, of San- 
dy Hill, a young man already distinguished Ibr his tal- 
ents as a writer, and his activity and efficiency as a 
politician, was earnestly pressed on the governor as the 
most suitable candidate for the office ; and the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Sanford in preference to him, produced dis- 
satisfaction. The governor, however, gave out that 
Mr. Sanford would not consent to hold the office long, 
(as in fact he did not,) and that his appointment was 



1843.] MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA. 327 

temporary. It is due to Mr. Sherwood to say, that he 
afterwards, as a member of the assembly, in time of 
need, came ardently and efficiently to the support of 
Gov. Bouck and his measures. But of this we sh^l 
speak more hereafter. 

When congress convened in December, 1842, the 
question, who should be nominated by the democratic 
party for president, was thus early agitated, and although 
at that time there was undoubtedly a majority, and 
probably a large majority, in favor of Mr. Van Buren, 
there was a manifestation of some opposition to him, 
and the names of other candidates were mentioned. 

On the 7th of January of this year, a very numerous 
meeting was held in the city of Philadelphia, of pei'sons 
friendly "to the nomination of Martin Van Buren for 
the presidency," of which Henry Horn was chosen 
president. A committee in behalf of the meeting had 
previously invited the attendance of a number of distin- 
guished gentlemen from abroad, among whom were Col. 
Benton, of Missouri, and Silas Wright, of this state. To 
this invitation Col. Benton and Mr. Wright replied, de- 
clining the invitation. 

The reason assigned by Mr. Wright for declining to 
attend the meeting, was one which only a delicate and 
sensitive mind can fully appreciate. He thought it 
wrong for him to attend meetings of the republicans of 
states other than his own, and to make efforts to force 
the preference of the democrats of New York upon those 
of other states. The letter which on this occasion he 
addressed to the Philadelphia committee evinces such 
a devotion to the democratic cause, and such pure and 
disinterested friendship towards Mr. Van Buren, that we 
take leave to present it entire to our readers : 



328 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

" Washington, Jan. 2d, 1843. 

" Gentlemen : — I have your favor inviting me, on be- 
half of the democratic citizens of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, who are friendly to the selection by a na- 
tional convention of Martin Van Buren as the dem- 
ocratic candidate for the next presidential term, to meet 
them on Saturday evening next, to celebrate the anni- 
versary of the battle of New Orleans. 

" My well-known attachment to, and confidence in, 
Mr. Van Buren, both as a citizen and a statesman, must 
satisfy you, and those for whom you act, that I could 
not but take pleasure in meeting political friends of a 
sister state who appreciate him as I do ; nor can it be 
necessary for me to say that I entertain the same pref- 
erence on the subject of the next democratic nomina- 
tion for the presidency which is expressed in your 
letter. 

" It is true that Mr. Van Buren has once held this 
high office : and it is as true, as I believe, that while in 
the service of his country and his political party, in that 
elevated situation, he was stricken down by his political 
opponents solely because he adhered, with a devotion 
above selfish considerations, to the most cherished and 
vital principles of that party. This I believe to be, at 
this day, the deep and settled conviction of the great 
body of the democracy of the country. If, then, the 
great principles which were wounded by the blows aimed 
at him, and which were arrested by his fall, are again to 
be revived and put in practice by the democrac}^ ; if the 
sound and safe policy which he was pursuing in the gov- 
ernment of the country, and which was overcome in his 
defeat, is again to be adopted, and to constitute the poli- 
c\ of the next democratic administration, it seems to 



1813.] LETTER OF SILAS WRIGHT. 329 

nie as politic as just, that with the principles and the 
policy, the faithful public servant who fell in their de- 
fence, should also be taken from under the feet of the 
common enemy to both, and be permitted to triumph 
with them. 

"As a mere consideration connected with Mr. Van 
Buren personally, this is a very small matter, however 
sensibly his immediate personal friends or himself may 
feel it ; as the political fate and fortune of any one man, 
in this wide countrv, must be a verv small matter in it- 
self considered ; but to the integrity and strength, and 
permanent ascendency of the great democratic party, it 
presents itself to my mind with enlarged importance. 
It may be to determine whether he, who, bearing in his 
hands the highest political trust of that party, shall wise- 
ly, and firmly, and patriotically adhere to its dearest 
principles, and fall in their defence, is to be raised again 
with the returning power of the party, or is to be left 
wounded upon the field, after the enemy is driven back. 
It may be to present to the minds of all future republi- 
can presidents the question, whether they shall practise 
fidelity to the party and its principles, at the hazard of 
their station, with a safe reliance upon its justice when 
it shall have the power, or, whether they shall yield be- 
fore a powerful political counter-current, and save their 
places rather than their principles." 

In the latter clause of the last sentence the action of 
the Baltimore convention in 1844, seems to be dimly 
shadowed forth. Mr. Wright proceeds : 

" In making these remarks, I am sure I shall not be 
suspected of a design to disparage any of the distin- 
guished competitors of Mr. Van Buren for this high dis- 
tinction. With all o^ those gentlemen, so far as I know 

28* 



330 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843 

who they are, my relations, personal and political, are 
entirely friendly ; and if I know myself, I would not do 
towards either of them an act of injury or injustice. 
They have all fearlessly and ably sustained Mr. Van 
Buren as president, the principles and policy of his ad- 
ministration, and himself as a candidate for re-election. 
If no higher motive impelled me, my appreciation of him 
as a statesman and a man would entitle them to my 
gratitude for these public acts. 

" If, then, I shall seem to interfere with their claims 
upon the country and our party, in this expression of my 
preferences for him, I can only reply, that the friend 
who seems to me to have received the deepest wounds 
in the common cause, is the one who commands my 
frst attention ; and, believing that friend equal to the 
others, both in power and disposition to sustain our com- 
mon jM-inciples and serve our common country, he is my 
preference. 

" If, in all this, personal attachments, more than pa- 
triotic considerations, have controlled my choice, I am 
sure I may be permitted to say, that I am not aware of 
the fact, as I do not know that I am, or ever have been, 
indebted to Mr. Van Buren beyond the obligations 
which his personal and political friendship have iui- 
posed; and those obligations, whatever they may be, 
have had no apparent existence on his part, in all our 
personal and political acquaintance. 

" I am, however, gentlemen, protracting my remarks 
upon this point altogether beyond my intention, and per- 
haps subjecting myself at least to the suspicion of that 
influence I seek to avoid ; I will conclude, therefore, by 
saying, I have not a doubt that, in pronouncing my own 
preference as to this nomination, I speak the feelings of 



1843.] THE BRIG SOMERS. 331 

the great mass of the democracy of my state. So far 
as my information enables me to form an opinion, that 
is so. Still I should not feel at liberty to attend meet- 
ings of the republicans of other states, to attempt, by any 
efforts of mine, to force the preferences of the republi- 
cans of New York upon them, so far as a nomination to 
office is concerned, and when those preferences are in 
favor of a fellow-citizen of the state, and subject to the 
suspicion of local or personal partialities. 

" In so far as your meeting has for its object the cele- 
bration of an anniversary among the proudest in our na- 
tion's history, it would afford me the highest pleasure to 
unite with you ; but I am sure you, and those for whom 
you act, will accord to me a better discharge of my du- 
ty if I remain at my place here, and urge my humble 
efforts to refund to him whose conduct and couraije cave 
the anniversary to his country, the fine imposed upon 
him for the act. 

" I am, gentlemen, with great respect, 
" Your fellow-citizen, 

" Silas Wright, Jr. 
" To tlie Committee," &c. 

In examining the files of newspapers published during 
the month of January, our attention has been arrested 
by an event which took place on board the brig-of-war 
Somers, on the first day of the preceding month. On 
that day Mr. Philip Spencer, aged 19 years, belonging 
to one of the most distinguished families in the state of 
New York, together with two other persons, Cromwell 
and Small, ..ere executed on board the Somers for an 
alleged charge of mutiny. The transaction, we are 
aware, does not strictly belong to the political history of 



332 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

New York, but as the case presents some extraordinary- 
features, and excited deeply, at the time, the profound 
sympathy and most intense feehng of this whole com- 
munity, we hope we may be excused for noticing it. 
We do not propose to give the history of the case ; that 
has been written by James Fennimore Cooper, in a work 
entitled, " Proceedings of the Naval Court-Martial in 
the case of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie," to which the 
reader is referred. 

We will, however, state briefly, that the Somers sailed 
from the African coast on the 11th of November, 1842, 
under the command of Mr. Mackenzie, for the United 
States, by the way of St. Thomas. On the 26th day of 
November, and while on the passage, Lieut. Gansevoort 
communicated to Commander Mackenzie what he sup- 
posed to be a mutinous plot, contrived by young Spencer, 
to obtain by force the control of the vessel, and, of 
course, to subdue or kill all such as opposed the execu- 
tion of the project. On the same evening, Spencer was 
arrested and put in irons ; and on the following day, 
Samuel Cromwell, boatswain's mate, and Elisha Small, 
seaman, were also seized and put in irons. We extract 
from the Madisonian, a Washington paper, the following 
summary statement of what followed : 

" That no disorder of a mutinous character appeared 
among the crew for the four succeeding days : that the 
vessel was going with good breezes and in good weather 
towards the island of St. Thomas, where she actually 
arrived and took in supplies on some day between the 
1st and 5th of December. 

" That on the 30th of November, the opinion of the 
officers was required by Commander Mackenzie as to 
the disposition of the prisoners : that they appear to 



1843.] THE BRIG SOMERS. 333 

have examined thirteen seamen as witnesses to prove 
the alleged mutiny, (and who are therefore supposed in- 
nocent of any participation in it,) which examination 
was had, so far as the papers show, in the absence of the 
prisoners, and without giving them any opportunity to 
cross-examine the witnesses, or to make any explana- 
tions or defence, or to procure any testimony in their 
own behalf These officers, without even the form of a 
court, without the obligation of an oath, and upon this 
ex-parte secret information, united in the opinion that 
the safety of the vessel required that the prisoners should 
be put to death! How far this recommendation was 
influenced by the acts or the fears of Mr. Mackenzie, 
does not appear. 

" That on the 1st of December, when every thing and 
person on board the vessel were perfectly quiet, after 
four days of entire security, the three persons were, by 
the order of Mackenzie, hung at the yard-arm at mid- 
day." 

Mackenzie was afterwards tried by a court-martial, 
which convened in the city of New York, and acquit- 
ted. How the court could have arrived at such a con- 
clusion is to us really surprising. 

We have, some time ago, read over the evidence given 
by Mr. Mackenzie on the trial. There was, it is true, 
some testimony given by one Wales, a suspicious wit- 
ness, which, if true, proved an intention on the part of 
Spencer to mutinize ; but against one of the others who 
was executed, there was not a particle of evidence even 
of an intended mutiny. It is very probable that Spencer- 
then not nineteen years old, may have formed some 
boyish and visionary notions of getting the control of the 
ship ; and it is not unlikely that some three or four of 



334 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l843. 

his companions may have agreed to join him in the en- 
terprise ; but with the exception of the deposition of Wales, 
already alluded to, there was not another word of testi- 
mony against any of the three unfortunate persons whose 
lives were taken, which could have been given in evi- 
dence against them in any court of justice in England 
or America. There was not even a pretence that any 
overt act of mutiny had been committed. Mackenzie, 
in his communication to the navy department, does in- 
deed say that Cromwell " looked" very resolute and de- 
termined. The accused, on a question of life and death, 
were not permitted to see their accusers, or cross-exam- 
ine the witnesses who testified against them ! There 
was no legal court-martial ; and even had there been, 
the laws of congress forbid the taking of human life by 
the sentence of a court-martial before which all the par- 
ties are heard, without the sanction of the president of 
the United States, or if without the United States, of the 
commander of the_^ee^ or squadron. 

The excuse of Mackenzie was a pretence that there 
was reason to believe the mutiny would have been suc- 
cessfully executed before they could get into port, and 
that the slaughter of these men was done in self-defence. 
The excuse is absurd and ridiculous. When the execu- 
tion took place, they were within two days' sail of St. 
Thomas, and they actually arrived there a day or two 
afterwards. With the then pretended ringleaders in 
irons, and all communication between them and the 
crew prohibited, how could Mackenzie have the face to 
say, that he had not sufficient influence over his men to 
get the ship into port, when he had sufficient control 
over them to induce them, at his bidding, to hang three 
of their comrades ? There is no escape from the conclu- 



1843. j LEGISLATURE OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 335 

sion, that it was a cowardly act of homicide, perpetrated 
under color of military authority. Posterity will so re- 
gard it, and history ought so to record it. 

Mr. Mackenzie, in his communication to the secretary 
of the navy, giving an account of this transaction, has 
the unparalleled effrontery to say : 

" If I shall be deemed by the navy department to have 
any merit in preserving the Somers from those treason- 
able toils by which she had been surrounded, since and 
before her departure from the United States, I respect- 
fully request that it may accrue, without reservation, to 
the benefit of Nephew O. H. Perry, now clerk on board 
the Somers, and that his name may be placed on the 
register, in the number left vacant by the treason of Mr. 
Spencer." 

While speaking of occurrences which happened in 
the United States, other than in the state of New York, 
it may be proper to notice that the legislature of South 
Carolina, in the month of December, nominated Mr. Cal- 
houn as a candidate for the next president. In their 
preamble they say " they look forward with sanguine 
expectation to the triumph of the democratic party ; but 
they believe it is essential to the ensuring, as it is to the 
value of such a triumph, that the candidate of the party 
should be clearly identified with the principles to which 
they stand so distinctly pledged, and should, if elected, 
rest his administration of the government upon the broad 
basis of ' Free Trade — Low Duties — No Debt — No con- 
nection with Banks — Economy — Retrenchment — and a 
strict adherence to the Constitution ;' " and they, there- 
fore, 

"Resolved, by the senate and house of representa- 
tives, in general a.ssembly met. That in consideration of 



3'JG POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

the long and faithful services, the unsullied private honor, 
the political integrity, distinguished abilities, fearless vir- 
tue, and sound constitutional principles of their fellow- 
citizen, John Caldw^ell Calhoun, they do hereby nom- 
inate and recommend him to the American people 
for election to the office of president of the United 
States." 

It is by no means improbable that this movement in 
the legislature of South Carolina at that early day, had 
some agency in influencing the result of the Baltimore 
Convention in 184 i. 

No material alterations were made in the New York 
legislature, as respects the committees of the two houses, 
except those caused by the election of new members, in 
lieu of those of last year. Mr. Hoffman not having 
been a candidate, and of course not having been re- 
elected, Mr. Allen of Oswego was appointed to supply 
his place as chairman of the committee of ways and 
means in the assembly. 

The state officers, — consisting of Samuel Young, 
secretary of state ; A. C. Flagg, comptroller ; George 
P. Barker, attorney-general ; Thomas Farrington, treas- 
urer ; and Mr. Jones, the surveyor-general, — were all 
of them radical in their political views, and warmly in 
favor of the financial act of 1842. Besides, as we 
have before remarked, if not opposed to the nomination 
of Mr. Bouck, they at least acquiesced in it with cold- 
ness and some reluctance. From their standing and 
talents they possessed great influence in the legislature, 
and over the minds of the masses of the democratic 
party. Of Col. Young, we need not speak ; he had been 
long known and acknowledged as a man of pre-eminent 
talents and strict integrity. Of the traits in his charac- 



1843.] STATE OFFICEKS. 337 

ter, which impaired his influence in public life, we have 
spoken in another place. 

Of Mr. Flagg, loo, we have spoken in a preceding 
volume of this work. To his superior talents as a finan 
cier, and his conceded fidelity and honesty as a public offi- 
cer, were added great native sagacity and shrewdness, a 
knowledge of the human heart which would seldom ren- 
der him liable to deception by false pretences, however 
plausible, great industry, and indomitable perseverance in 
carrying into effect his views. These qualities had been 
ripened and improved by long experience in public life, 
and an extensive acquaintance throughout the state, and 
more especially with the efficient men belonging to the 
political party to which he was attached. An able cor- 
respondent, who for several years was a distinguished 
member of the legislature, and who belongs to the 
hunker section of the democratic party, in a letter re- 
cently written, speaks thus of Mr. Flagg : 

" The simplicity of his habits, his devotion to the du- 
ties of his office, and the fact that he has not acquired 
wealth in his official station, give him the confidence of 
the public. These qualities render him an able party 
leader, and he was unquestionably the ablest man of the 
interest [the radical interest] to which he was attached. 
He rallied his friends after their defeat, and he always 
constituted the strong point of that section, and gave it 
the principal portion of the public confidence that it ever 
enjoyed. He entered deeply into the controversies of 
the democratic party, and in exercising the power of ap- 
pointment as a member of the canal board, he was never 
disposed to compromise or conciliate." 

Of George P. Barker, the same correspondent says: 
" He was an eloquent and brilliant man. He was of an 

29 



338 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

impulsive temperament, and possessed very popular 
manners. His disposition was too ductile and yielding 
for consistency or firmness." To this we can add, that 
his " impulses" were always of the most kind and gen- 
erous character. His heart overflowed with benevo- 
lence to all men, and he was beloved by all. Alas ! he 
has now gone to the grave. We do not believe the man 
is now livino; who will acknowledge himself to have 
been personally unfriendly to George P. Barker. 

Mr. Farrington was mild and conciliatory in his dis- 
position and deportment. He possessed a well-cultiva- 
ted mind and respectable talents. 

We have little personal knowledge of the surveyor- 
general, Mr. Jones, but all we do know of him is favor- 
able to his head and heart. 

With men of such talent, weight of character, and 
political influence, comprising in theory a part of the 
state administration, who looked upon him with cold- 
ness, the situation of Mr. Bouck may well be considered 
as having been any thing but that of ease and quiet. 

The state officers, as we are assured by a gentleman 
intimate with them all, doubted whether the governor 
really and cordially approved of Mr. Hoffman's act of 
1842 ; and his message on that subject was not satisfac- 
tory to them, nor, as our correspondent says, to those 
"who, in 1840, '41, and '42, had occupied the front of 
the battle against the continuation of expenditures for 
the extension of internal improvements, but," he adds, 
" they remained inactive." 

By some means it came to be understood, at the very 
commencement of Mr. Bouck's administration, that a por- 
tion of the democratic party were opposed to him. This 
portion was understood as acting under the advisement of 



1843.] APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE. 339 

the state officers. Whether such was the fact, we do not 
know ; but we do know it was so reported, and we have 
reason to beheve that Gov. Bouck gave some credit to 
the rumor. No doubt some of the applicants for office 
encouraged this notion, and were careful to represent 
themselves as friends to the governor par excellence. 
If this disaffection was at first ideal, it soon became real, 
and began to be recognised. The governor, however, 
attempted to conciliate ; and with that view generally 
made his appointments from candidates recommended 
by county conventions, or by members of the legisla- 
ture from the respective counties where the applicants 
resided. By adopting this course, he appointed nearly 
or perhaps quite as many of those who were called his 
opponents as of those who were known to be his friends. 
In this way the governor surrendered to irresponsible 
county conventions, and to members of the legislature, 
that patronage with which the constitution had invested 
him. He nevertheless was held responsible by his friends 
for appointing those they called his enemies. 

We have never known this temporizing policy pur- 
sued with success. We like much better the course 
which our correspondent says Mr. Flagg pursued in the 
canal board. The governor should either in all his con- 
versations and intercourse have repudiated the insinua- 
tions that the state officers and their friends were opposed 
to him, and waged war against the men who persisted 
in asserting that such was the fact ; or he should have 
declared war against the state officers, and wielded his 
patronage accordingly. With such veteran political 
partisans he should have seen no middle course could be 
taken. We hope our readers will bear in mind that we 
now sp'eak of party policy only. 



340 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

But the controversy which grew out of the appoint- 
ment of a state printer as the successor of Mr. Weed, 
whom it was determined to remove,* produced the 
sharpest collisions, and probably had more effect in cre- 
ating and perpetuating the difference between the two 
sections of the democratic party, and attracted more 
the attention of the legislature and of the public, than 
any other occurrence, during the year 1843. 

Mr. Edwin Croswell, who was regularly educated to 
the printing business in Cattskill, had been printer to the 
state since the year 1823. He was removed by the 
whigs in 1840, and Mr. Thurlow Weed appointed in his 
place. Of Mr. Croswell's talents as an editor, of his 
skill as a political tactician, and of his fidelity as the or- 
gan of the party, whose objects and doctrines his paper 
professed to support, we have spoken in a preceding 
volume ;f to which we will only add, that seven years' 
subsequent attention to his course as an editor of a po- 
litical paper, has only served to convince us of the truth 
of what we then said of him. We will not retract a 
single word from the remarks we then made ; on the 
contrary, we think he has developed new powers, and 
earned additional laurels, as a member of the editorial 
corps, and as a profound and skilful political and party 
manager. Some dozen or fourteen years before the 
period of which we are now writing, he had connected 
with him in his business the son of his uncle, the Rev. 
Henry Croswell, now of New Haven, and formerly the 
celebrated editor of the " Balance," printed at Hudson, 



* Solely for party reasons. 

t See 2 Political History, pp. 121, 122. 



1842.] STATE PRINTER. 341 

and afterwards of the " Balance and New York Jour- 
nal," printed at Albany. 

In the year 1839 or 1840, the elder and younger Cros- 
wells had taken in connection with them in business, and 
in conducting the Albany Argus, Mr. Henry H. Van 
Dyck, who, after having for some time published and 
conducted a democratic paper in the county of Orange, 
was elected in 1836 to the senate of this state, and in 
that capacity had acquired a standing, highly respecta- 
ble in the political party to which he belonged, and with 
the New York public in general. 

The people of the state of New York, and particu- 
larly those of them who belong to the democratic party, 
are partial to a rotation in office. They believe that 
no one citizen to the exclusion of others ouffht for anv 
considerable time to enjoy the emoluments of office. 
Perhaps their notions in this respect are carried too far, 
and that in their zeal for an equal distribution of the 
honors and emoluments of office, they do not sufficiently 
consider that theoffice is created for the benefit of the 
public, and not for that of the incumbent. However this 
may be, it is certain that as soon as it was ascertained 
that the democratic party possessed the power of dis- 
placing Mr. Weed, it was made a subject of general 
remark that Mr. Croswell had received more than his 
share of the public patronage, and that the state print- 
ing ought to be given to some other person. Rumors 
also were afloat that Mr. Croswell had accumulated 
great wealth, the magnitude of which no doubt was 
exaggerated, by means of the patronage bestowed on 
him by the democratic party ; and these rumors led the 
minds of many to the conclusion that he ought in fu- 
ture to be excluded from the public crib, and that some 

29* 



342 POLITICAL HISTOllY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

Other person, equally talented and deserving, should be 
substituted in his place ; but we are not aware that any 
specific charge was made against him, either as a public 
officer or as a party editor. 

The state officers were in favor of a change of the 
state printer ; for what particular reason, other than the 
one we have just mentioned, we are not informed. Mr. 
Croswell had, if we rightly recollect, supported the act 
of 1842, in good faith and with his usual ability, and 
Mr. Flagg had been on terms of intimacy with him, and 
had for a year or two been jointly with him editor of 
the Rough Hewer, a radical weekly paper, published in 
connection with the Daily Argus. 

It might have been more judicious in Mr. Croswell, 
and better for him — certainly it would have been more 
for his peace and quiet — had he yielded to the public 
sentiment in favor of rotation in office, and of " new 
men," (out of which he afterwards made so much,) and, 
as Mr. Weed has since done under circumstances 
somewhat similar, determined, and publicly declared 
his determination, to surrender all claims to the state 
printing ; but, as he did not choose to do so, it seemed 
to us at the time, and we still think that the state offi- 
cers, as a matter of policy, were injudicious in waging 
a war against him. They did, however, oppose his re- 
appointment, and in that opposition they were joined by 
the greater part of the radical members of the legisla- 
ture. This course threw Mr. Croswell among those 
who were understood to be more particularly friendly 
to Gov. Bouck, and more liberally inclined to encour- 
age expenditures for internal improvements, and who 
were afterwards, or about that time, denominated hun- 
kers. 



1843.] STATE PRINTER. 343 

Mr. Van Dvck was announced as the candidate in 
opposition to Mr. Crosvvell. He had been for some time 
previous a partner with the two Croswells, and had con- 
tinued in the Argus estabhshment until the legislature 
convened, in perfect friendship with them. In his letter 
which he published after he gave up the contest, he 
stated, that when he agreed to take an interest in the 
Argus there was an honorable understanding between 
him and Mr. Croswell, that when it should be in the 
power of the democratic party to appoint a state pi"inter, 
he was to have the support of Mr. Croswell for that 
office. This Mr. Croswell denied. A^an Dyck. if we 
rightly recollect, did not claim that any express agree- 
ment to that effect was made. We therefore can readi- 
Iv believe that both gentlemen were honest in their dec- 
larations. Mr. Van Dyck may have received the im- 
pression from conversations with Mr. Croswell, that he 
intended to surrender the office to him, when the latter 
did not mean to be so understood. 

Efforts were made by the respective friends of Messrs. 
Croswell and Van Dyck to eflfect a compromise of 
their conflicting claims, in which senators Dennison and 
Bartlett had a considerable agency. 

The printing establishment of the Argus was then 
owned jointly by E. Croswell, S. Croswell, and H. H. 
Van Dyck. Mr. Croswell proposed that a law should 
be passed making the Argi/s the state paper, without 
naming a state printer. To this Mr. Van Dyck object- 
ed, because the two Croswells owned two-thirds of the 
establishment, and they therefore would hold a control 
over the editorial department of the paper. 
• Mr. E. Croswell then proposed that his name should 
be withdrawn as a candidate, and that H. H. Van Dyck 



o41 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

and Sherman Croswell should be appointed state print- 
ers ; but this pi'oposition was rejected by Mr. Van 
Dyck, on the same ground as the former ; Mr.V. D. be- 
lieving, that as the Messrs. Croswell would hold a ma- 
jority of the stock which comprised the establishment, 
they could arid would control the political course of the 
paper. The attempt to compromise, therefore, failed. 

On the first day of the session, Mr. Dennison gave 
notice of bringing into the senate a bill to provide for 
the public printing, and on the fifth of January brought 
in such bill. The bill, we have been informed, as 
drawn by Mr. Dennison, provided for the appointment 
of H. H. Van Dyck as state printer. It was refer- 
red to the printing committee, consisting of Messrs. 
Lawrence, Rhoades, and Hunter, who reported a bill, 
the first section whereof provided that the state printer 
should be appointed by the joint ballot of both houses. 

Mr. Foster, who favored the appointment of Mr. Cros- 
well, moved to amend this section by enacting that the 
state printer should be appointed on the nomination of 
the governor, by consent of the senate. This amend- 
ment was opposed by Mr. Dennison and others, but it 
finally succeeded, the whigs generally voting for it. 

]Mr. A. B. Dickinson,* on the subject of the amend- 



* Mr. Dickinson was from the county of Chemung, and formerly be- 
longed to the democratic party. He abandoned that party in 1837. He 
is an unlettered man, and has derived very little benefit from reading in 
the early part of his life, but his native mental powers are uncommonly 
vigorous. He argues a question with great force and effect. He pos- 
ses.'ses a discriminating and logical mind, and his reasoning is plain and 
clear, and calculated to convince. Though his style of speaking is rough 
and unpolished, he is at times truly eloquent. His wit is keen. He rare- 
ly came in contact with an opponent in the senate who did not quit the 
combat much scathed by his sarcasms. 



1843.] STATE PRINTER. 345 

ment, said he " thought he should rather prefer it to the 
original bill. Before voting for it, however, he should 
like to know whom the governor would appoint ; whether 
there were not some more Dutch cousins to be provided 
for. And he should wait for a little more cross-firing 
here ; because it looked a little as if the forces of Com- 
modore Bouck were arrayed against those of Captain 
Flagg ; and if so, he preferred the commodore alto- 
gether." IMr. D. concluded by expressing the opinion 
that he should vote either one way or the other. 

When the question came before the senate on agree- 
ing to the report of the committee of the whole, those 
who voted for the amendment were — Bartlett, Bockee, 
Chamherlin, Corning, Dickinson, Ely. Faulkner, Foster, 
Franklin, Hopkins, Lett, Mitchell, Rhoades, Schoville, 
Varian, Works, Wright — 17. Those who voted in the 
negative were — Dennison, Deyo, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, 
Putnam, Root, Ruger, Sherwood — 9. 

We have caused the names of the democratic sena- 
tors to be printed in italics, from which it will be seen 
that this was a test vote between the hunkers and radi- 
cals : of the sixteen democrats who voted, ten ere 
hunkers and six radicals. Mr. Scott, of New York, 
and Mr. Strong, of Rensselaer, known radicals, were 
absent when this vote was taken. The two sections of 
the party, therefore, then stood as ten to eight. 

On the question of engrossing the bill for a third read- 
ing, Mr. Dennison said : " The amendment which hnd been 
adopted, giving the appointment to the executive chair, 
and which was pressed through yesterday with all the 
energy and eloquence of the senator from the 5th, (Mr. 
Foster,) was gratuitous, to say the least. INIr. D. re- 
gretted the passage of that amendment. He regret- 



346 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

ted that this administration was to be saddled with so 
odious a measure, in the outset, as this taking power 
from the many and giving it to the executive. He was 
well satisfied that the governor had no desire to wield 
this power. The journal printed by the state printer 
was always looked upon as the organ of the administra- 
tion, and was looked upon with jealousy by the people 
at large. How much better that that journal should be 
selected by the representatives of the people of all parts 
of the state ! How much more consistent with the true 
principles of democracy ! The people in the extreme 
parts of the state always look with jealousy to the cen- 
tre ; and suspicions always existed of the influence of a 
regency, or clique. Now it was proposed to have a 
journal connected with the executive — dependent on 
him, at least, for appointment — and in a great measure 
independent of the immediate representatives of the peo- 
ple. He hoped senators would reconsider their votes 
on this amendment ; if not, he hoped it would be arrest- 
ed in the other house. But if not there, he still hoped it 
would encounter the veto power. It appeared to him a 
proper subject for the exercise of that power. It was 
an anti-republican measure ; it was stealing power from 
the many for the few." 

On the final passage of the bill, 16 senators voted for 
it and 10 against it. 

In -the assembly a bill was brought in by the printing 
committee, to appoint Edwin Croswell state printer. 

Judge Leland, from Steuben, ofl^ered an amendment 
to the first section, striking out the name of Edwin Cros- 
well, and which provided for the appointment of a state 
printer by joint ballot. In ofl:ering the amendment, Mr. 
Leland, among other things, said, " there had been a great 



1843.] STATE PRINTER. 847 

deal of influence brought to bear on this subject, from 
all quarters. All who had come up here for office, and 
who were expecting patronage, had been brought in to 
take one side or the other ; and neither side knowing 
what will be the result, there were some who were dis- 
posed to cry "good lord, if a lord, or good devil, if not a 
lord," — so that this had become a very absorbing subject. 
The question, who were the friends of the goveVnor, had 
been raised on this subject." 

The amendment proposed by Mr. Leland made the 
bill nearly similar to the senate's bill before it was 
amended by Mr. Foster ; and by an apparent consent 
of the two sections of the democratic party in the as- 
sembly, it was adopted. 

The senate subsequently concurred substantially in 
the bill from the assembly as amended by Mr. Leland ; 
so that the state printer was by law required to be ap- 
pointed by joint ballot of the two houses. 

On the 21st of January, a caucus of the democratic 
members of the two houses was held for the nomination 
of state printer. But before giving the result ol' this 
meeting, it may be proper to state that Mr. Van Dyck 
had withdrawn his name as a candidate for the office, 
and there was not in reality any candidate against Mr. 
Croswell. Those of the caucus who would not vote for 
Mr. Croswell, voted without any hope of success, and 
we presume without any serious effijrt on his part, for 
William C. Bryant, of the Evening Post. There were 
108 members present, of whom 66 voted for Mr. Cros- 
well, 40 for Mr. Bryant, and there were two scattering 
votes cast. 

The next day the election was made by the two 
houses, in pursuance of the nomination. On the same 



348 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

day Ebenezer Mack, of Ithaca, formerly a senator, and 
author of the biography of Gen. Lafayette, was chosen 
printer to the senate, and Messrs. Carrol and Cook for 
the assembly. 

In connection with this subject it may be proper to 
state, that some time in the year 1841, Messrs. Vance 
and Wendell established a democratic daily paper in 
the city of Albany, called the Albany Atlas. 

The object of the proprietors seemed to be that of 
mere business men. It was a respectable newspaper, 
and uniform in its course as respected the party to which 
it professed to belong. It did not attract much atten- 
tion as a political paper until the commencement of the 
session of the legislature in 1843. About that time it 
was transferred to Messrs. French* and Cassidy. These 
gentlemen were young men, and both of them very pop- 
ular with the young men of Albany. Mr. French was 
ardent and generous ; and such was the influence of the 
young men, and so much was he their favorite, that in 
1840 and 1842, he was nominated by the democrats of 
Albany a candidate for congress against Gen. Dix, or 
Gov. Marcy, or both, in opposition to the joint eiforts of 
Mr. Flagg, and many others of the most influential poli- 
ticians in Albany, among whom, we believe, was Mr. 
Edwin Croswell. 

When the question of state printer came to be agitated, 
the Atlas,under the direction of Messrs. French and Cassi- 
dy, took bold and decided ground against Mr. Croswell ; 
and the corps of young men who had before been the 
personal and political friends of French and Cassidy, 
formed a sort of radical association, of which the Atlas 



* James M. French aud William Cassidy. 



1843.] MR. WRIGHT RE-ELECTED SENATOR. 349 

was the organ. Il was in that paper that Mr. Van Dyck 
publistied his communications while he was contending 
with Mr. Croswell for the state printing. 

On the 7th day of February, Silas Wright was re- 
elected senator of the United States for six years, from 
the 4th day of March, 1843. It is a singular fact in the 
political history of the state, that notwithstanding the 
general inclination, to which we have before alluded, of 
the people for rotation in office — notwithstanding the 
office of senator of the United States, to a man who 
has talents and taste for public life, is perhaps the most 
desirable olHce within the gift of the jieople or legislature 
of the state, and notwithstanding the furious contending 
factions which at that time existed among the democratic 
members of the legislature, — at the caucus held on the 
evening before the day on which Mr. Wright was cho- 
sen, upon balloting for a candidate, his name was found 
written on every ballot. He had in fact outlived not 
only opposition but competition. In the senate Mr. 
Wright received 17 votes, Mr. Filmore 6, Mr. Collier 
one, and Gen. Root voted for Mr. Bradish. In the as- 
sembly, Wright received 77 votes, Filmore 16, and there 
were 15 scatterinti whig votes. 

Mr. A. B. Dickinson offisred the following resolution, 
which produced considerable discussion, and some ex- 
citement between the democratic and whig members. 

" Resolved, That the canal commissioners report to 
the senate, as soon as practicable, the length or distance 
from the macadamized road of the northern part of the 
ornamental rubble wall on the line of the canal between 
the cities of Albany and Troy, formerly under the charge 
of Wm. C. Bouck, canal commissioner, which said wall 
commences in front of the premises owned by W. J. 

33 



350 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOUK. [l843. 

Worth, and passes along the property owned by David 
Hamilton, late canal superintendent, and Edward Learn- 
ed, canal contractor ; also what is the distance on a par- 
allel line between the said road and the wall next south 
of the interval or space between the said walls from the 
said road ; whether the nature of the soil or any other 
cause required the erection of the first-described wall, 
which would not equally apply to the space between the 
two walls ; and whether, if the said first-required wall was 
required to be erected for canal purposes or for the pro- 
tection of travellers on the road, it is not necessary to 
connect the two walls by a similar erection." 

Mr. Dickinson charged that Gov. Bouck, while canal 
commissioner, had expended more money in enlarging 
the canal, between Albany and Schenectady, and in 
erecting ornamental works, than was necessary. In 
the course of the investigation it did appear that a 
very large sum of money had been expended on that 
part of the canal ; but after a pretty thorough inves- 
tigation by a committee, of which we believe Dr. 
Ely, a senator from the fifth district, was chairman, 
nothing appeared which proved any improper con- 
duct on the part of Mr. Bouck. This attack of Mr. 
Dickinson on the governor, when canal commissioner, 
was conducted by Mr. D. with more than his usual bold- 
ness, vigor, and ability. The controversy growing out 
of the investigation was, we believe, carried on entirely 
between the whigs and democrats, without distinction, 
as relates to the two sections of the last-named party ; 
but another question soon came before the senate which 
excited much bitterness of feeling, and served to widen 
the breach between the hunkers and radicals. 

Several years before this the governor hod by law 



1843.] THE tiEuLOGlCAL SURVEY. 351 

been directed to cause a geological survey of the state 
to be made, and the result' of the survey to be published. 
In pursuance of this direction, surveyors had been em- 
ployed, a very thorough exploration had been com- 
menced, and the survey nearly completed ; contracts 
for publishing the result had been entered into, and six 
volumes had been published. The work was got up in a 
magnificent style, and at great expense. The cost of 
each volume, including the plates and printing, it was 
said, would be four dollars, and it was probable, before 
it was completed, ten volumes would be issued. Three 
thousand volumes were directed to be printed. 

In 1842, the legislature passed a law, by a vote of a 
majority of the members present, directing that these 
books should be deposited with the secretary of state, 
and that two copies should be delivered gratuitously to 
the governor, and also the same number to the lieutenant- 
governor, and to all surviving governors and lieutenant- 
governors, and one copy to each member of the legisla- 
ture of 1842. 

Prior to the session of 1843 the books came to the 
hands of Col. Young, then secretary of state; and on 
the 13th day of March, he made a communication to the 
senate, in which he stated that in his judgment that part 
of the law of 1842 which directed a gratuitous distribu- 
tion of the geological books was unconstitutional, inas- 
much as it was a grant of property to individuals, and 
had not been passed by two-thirds of the members of 
both houses ; and that therefore he did not feel author- 
ized to deliver the books in pursuance of its directions. 
This communication was by order of the senate refer- 
red to the judiciary committee, of which Mr. Strong was 
chairman : and on tho 17lh of March, Col. Young ad- 



352 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

liiessed a letter to Mr. Strong, as the organ of the com- 
mittee, in which he discussed the question of the con- 
stitutionality of the act of 1842 with great ability, and 
also reviewed with freedom, and some severity, the past 
action of the legislature in making grants of money, or 
other property, and contended that millions of outstand- 
ing stocks were then impending over the state, which 
were " created by laws in clear and direct hostility with 
the plain provisions of the constitution." He added that 
"these laws were null and void from their inception, 
and cannot impose even the shadow of a moral obliga- 
tion for the fulfilment of their ostensible demands. 
Whether the people of the state will quietly bow their 
necks to the yoke, and pay a premium upon legislative 
wickedness and encroachment, will be disclosed by the 
future ; and if the double course of past profligacy and 
past precedent can be fastened upon them, they will then 
be meek enough to bear without a murmur the amplest 
strides of unbridled tyranny. Precedents sufficiently 
rank for any purpose whatever, may be found in the le- 
gislation of 1836 — in that memorable year when corrup- 
tion vegetated with a more vigorous growth than the 
foulest plant of the tropics, and when a majority of one 
branch sympathetically resolved that moral and official 
crimes did not disqualify individuals from holding a seat 
in that body, and consequently that such crimes were 
to be regarded as senatorial prerogatives." 

The reading of this letter produced an instantaneous 
excitement in the senate. The lieutenant-governor, 
Dickinson, who was then in the chair, had but a day or 
two before decided that a bill which in effect released 
the lien of the state on the New York and Erie Rail- 
road, which it held for securing the repayment of a loan 



1843.] RESOLULION BY MR. FOSTER. 353 

to that company of three millions of dollars, was a ma- 
jority and not a two-third bill, felt himself personally 
implicated (though it is not probable that Col. Young 
intended to allude particularly to any individuals) by the 
passage we have quoted. 

The moment the reading of the letter was concluded, 
Mr. A. B. Dickinson rose and uttered the following se- 
vere and caustic remarks : 

" He inquired if it had been ordered printed ; and, 
being answered in the affirmative, moved that ten times 
the usual number of copies be printed. He took it this 
was a political text-book for barnburners ; and, though 
he did not know how it came here, he was for having it 
either widely diffused, or returned to its author. He 
had thought — and he had so intimated — of offering a 
resolution to remove the secretary of state for blas- 
phemy ; but the secretary seemed to have become very 
pious all at once. He had quoted about every thing in 
this document, except the ten commandments. By what 
right did the secretary of state lecture the legislature for 
having quoted precedent in justification of their action ? 
Had they not a right to quote precedent ? He moved 
to print ten times the usual number of the communica- 
tion." 

The next day Mr. Foster offered the following reso- 
lution : 

" Whereas in a communication fi-om the secretary of 
state, presented to this house on the 20th inst., it is al- 
leged that ' millions of outstanding stocks are now im- 
pending over the state, which were created by laws in 
clear and direct hostility with the plain provisions of the 
constitution ;' and that ' these laws were null and void 
from their inception, and cannot impose even the shadow 

30* 



3o4 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

of a moral obligation for the fulfilment of their ostensible 
demands.' And whereas, an assent, either tacit or ex- 
press, on the part of the senate, to the sentiments above 
set forth, would not only excite apprehensions and alarm 
in the minds of the creditors of the state, but would 
lessen its honor and character in the estimation of the 
world. Therefore, 

" Resolved, That in the judgment of this house, the 
state of New York will not only fully redeem its plight- 
ed faith to all its creditors, but that it is morally and 
legally, as well as in good faith and honesty, bound to 
discharge every public debt which has been created, and 
every dollar of stock which has been issued." 

Mr. Rhoades declared his approbation of the resolu- 
tion offered by Mr. Foster, but said that not expecting 
that any other senator would present a resolution, he 
had prepared one which he would lay on the table, that 
the senate might have a choice. The preamble and 
resolution drawn by Mr. Rhoades were very severe upon 
the secretary of state. The resolution which followed 
his preamble was in these words : 

" Resolved, That we utterly discard the ' wickedness' 
of all executive, legislative, or ministerial assumptions, 
which, under the guise of respect for the ' constitution,' 
or the influence of any ' past precedent,' would make an 
'encroachment' upon the plighted faith, untarnished 
fame, character, and credit of this state." 

The ground on which Mr. Foster urged his resolution 
was, that the assertion of Col. Young that millions of 
stock then outstanding had been created by unconstitu- 
tional laws, might induce an impression abroad that the 
state of New York intended repudiation ; on the other 
hand it was insisted that the condemnation of past legis- 



1843.] RESOLUTION BY GEN. ROOT. 355 

lation by Col. Young, by no means implied that either 
he or his political friends meant to deny but that the state 
was bound faithfully to perform its engagements with 
those who had loaned money to its agents on the au- 
thority of the laws passed by its legislature. Several 
amendments to, or substitutes for Mr. Foster's resolution 
were offered ; among which was the following, proposed 
by Gen. Root : 

" Resolved, That the communication of the secretary 
of state, stating that 'millions of outstanding stocks are 
now impendingover the state, which were created bviaws 
in clear and direct hostility with the plain provisions of 
the constitution — and that these laws were null and void 
I'rom their inception, and cannot impose even a shadow 
of a moral obligation for the fulfilment of their ostensi- 
ble demand,' contains sentiments which ought not, even 
for a moment, to be entertained by the legislature ; nei- 
ther the government nor the legislature are warranted 
in expressing a doubt of its legal, moral, and civil obli- 
gations, to pay all its bonds punctually, to pay the in- 
terest, and actually to redeem the principal of all the 
htocks issued by its officers, appointed for that purpose. 
Their authority, when derived from public laws, cannot 
be questioned, nor can any defect in the passage of 
such laws in anywise invalidate the issue of any such 
stocks." 

This substitute was supported by all the radicals in 
the senate, and four whigs — Messrs. Hard, Dickinson, 
Root, and Works. The following are the ayes and noes : 

Ayes — Messrs. Dennison, Dickinson, Hard, Hunter, 
l..awrence. Porter, Root, Ruger, Sherwood, Strong, Var- 
ney. Works — 12. 

Noes — Messrs. Bartlit, Bockee, Chamberlain, Dixon, 



356 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

Ely, Foster, Franklin, Lott, Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, 
Wright— 12. 

The lieutenant-governor gave a casting vote in the 
negative, which implied that he preferred Mr. Foster's 
resolution to Gen. Root's. 

We have received information from a quarter that 
does not permit us to doubt of its correctness, that the 
tie vote on Gen. Root's substitute was given by a pre- 
vious arrangement, and at the request of Mr. Dickin- 
son, fur the purpose of afi'ording him an opportunity to 
reply to the letter addressed by Col. Young to the judi- 
ciary committee. But whether this information be well 
or ill founded, it is a fact that Mr. Dickinson, before 
giving the casting vote, availed himself of the occasion 
to state his reasons for that vote, and at the same time 
to review the letter of Col. Young to Mr. Strong, and 
deliver an elaborate argument against the positions ta- 
ken by Mr. Young in that letter. This led to a news- 
paper controversy between the secretary of state and 
the lieutenant-governor, marked with extreme bitter- 
ness on both sides. The friends of Mr. Dickinson being 
fully aware of the great talents of Mr. Young as a writer, 
Vv'ere justly alarmed when they became aware of the 
impending controversy ; but in the course of the corre- 
spondence Mr. Dickinson developed, to their great sat- 
isfaction, tact and talent, when he ap})eared on paper, 
which enabled him to quit the field, after a contest with 
so formidable an antagonist, if not with the laurels of 
a conqueror, at least with the reputation of having com- 
bated with much skill. 

In conclusion, we will venture, with great diffidence 
in our own judgment, to say that we cannol resist the 
conclusion, that the law which granted to each member 



1843.] UANK COMMISSIONERS. 357 

of the legislature of 1842 property to the value of thirty 
or forty dollars, was such a grant as was inconsistent 
with the constitution of 1821, unless sanctioned by the 
votes of two-thirds of the members elected to both 
houses of the legislature. 

Col. Young reasoned that, being unconstitutional, the 
law was void ; that a void thing was nothing ; and that 
he was therefore left without any authority to make the 
distribution. But whether an executive officer is au- 
thorized to refuse to obey a law passed by the law-ma- 
king power, unless in extraordinary cases, from which 
the most disastrous consequences would instantaneously 
result, because he Jiimself believes the law unconstitu- 
tional, may certainly admit of great doubt. Col. Young 
might, without making any official communication to the 
legislature, have simply refused to deliver the books, and 
advised the parties claiming them to apply to the Su- 
preme Court for an alternative mandamus, requiring 
him to show cause why he refused to obey the mandate 
of the legislature ; and on his return to that writ the con- 
stitutionality of the law would have been decided by the 
supreme judicial tribunal, — a tribunal created for that 
Very purpose by the same constitution which Col. Young 
properly contended was the paramount law of the slate. 

We repeat, that this controversy served to widen the 
difference between the hunkers and radicals. 

By the existing law there were three bank commis- 
sioners, who were allowed liberal salaries. From the con- 
trol they possessed over banks they had great influence. 
One of these officers was appointed on the nomination 
of the governor by the consent of the senate, and the 
others elected by the banks. The existing state bank 
commissioner was a whig, appointed by Gov. Seward. 



358 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 

Of course, his successor would now be selected by Gov. 
Bouck. 

Early in the session, a committee of the senate was 
raised for the purpose of taking into consideration the 
propriety of reducing the salaries of officers, and for de- 
vising other means for reducing the expenses of the 
state government, so far as such reduction could be 
made without injury to the public service. Dr. Ely, a 
friend of Gov. Bouck, was appointed chairman of that 
committee, and in his report, among other reforms, rec- 
ommended that the number of bank commissioners 
should be reduced to one only. 

Shortly afterwards a bill was brought into the assem- 
bly by Mr. Leland, chairman of the bank committee, in 
accordance with the views of the senate's committee, 
which, after much discussion, passed that house, but fail- 
ed of passing the senate. Subsequently, Mr. Stimpson 
introduced into the assembly a bill to abolish the office 
of hank commissioner. This bill passed the assembly by 
a vote of 56 to 23. 

Upon examining the ayes and noes it will be seen 
that many of the democratic members, among whom 
was Mr. Leland, chairman of the bank committee, did ' 
not vote on the question, and that all the whigs and 
some of the radicals voted for the bill. It did not reach 
the senate, so as to be announced and read the first and 
second time, until the last day of the session. On the 
motion of Mr. Dennison, the rules of the senate were 
suspended, and the bill was ordered to a third reading 
on that day. The ayes and noes on its final passage 
were: Ayes — Messrs. Dennison, Deyo, Dickinson, Dixon, 
Hard, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, Ruger, Scott, Strong, 
Works — 12. Noes — Messrs. Bartlit, Chamberlain, Cor- 



1843.] REJECTION OF GOV.'s NOMINATIONS. 359 

iiiug, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Franklin, Lott, Mitchell, 
Putnam, Wright — 11. 

The reader will perceive thatall the radicals present and 
five vvhigs voted for the bill, and all the hunkers present 
and two of the wliigs, Messrs. Franklin and Putnam, vo- 
ted against it. The hunkers charged the action of the 
radicals on this question as originating from a desire to 
curtail the patronage of the governor, and give addi- 
tional power and influence to the comptroller, on whom 
the principal duties performed by the bank commission- 
ers were by this bill devolved. 

There was still another circumstance that occurred, 
whicli, although trifling in itself, from the general prac- 
tice of preceding political parties, greatly increased the 
irritation between the two sections of the democratic 
party. 

Several of the nominations for oflice, made by Gov. 
Bouck, were rejected in the senate by the united votes 
of the radical members, supported by a majority of the 
whigs. 

So far as we can recollect, the first collision vv^hich. 
was publicly known happened on a disagreement be- 
tween the governor and senate in respect to the appoint- 
ment of a loan officer and notary public in the county 
of Jefferson.* The case was brieflv this : 



* There were four civil ottif's vacant iu the county of Jefferson. 
Messrs. Church and Graves, two ol' the members of assembly from that 
county, presented the governor with the names of four hunkers, whom 
thoy recommended should be appointed to fill these offices. Messrs. Ru- 
"■er and Lampsou recommended the appointment of four radicals. The 
governor made an ineffectual effort to induce the representatives from tho 
county to compromise their differences, and mutually to agree ou the per- 
sons he should nominate. Failing in this effort, he selected two names 



360 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

The governor nominated Jason Clark for loan officer, 
and Pearson Mundy for notary public. Senator Ruger 
and Mr. Lampson, a member of the assembly, had rec- 
ommended two other persons for these offices ; and 
Messrs. Church and Graves, the two remaining mem- 
bers of assembly from Jefferson, had recommended 
Clark and Mundy. These nommations, together with 
others for the county, were, as usual, referred to the 
senators from the fifth district, consisting of Ely, Foster, 
Scovil, and Ruger. The three first-named members of 
the committee reported in favor of confirming the nom- 
inations, from which Mr. Ruger dissented, and presented 
to the senate a minority report, written under apparent 
excitement, and with great bitterness. He stated in 
that report that it was usual to leave to the senator from 
the county the selection of the proper candidates for 
office from his own county : that he was held responsible 
to its citizens as his immediate constituents for such ap- 
pointments, and that the practice of the senators of the 
fifth district was in accordance with this custom. Mr. 
Ruger concludes his report by the following tart and 
rather uncourteous paragraphs : 

" The democracy of Jefferson county have for years 
been suspicious of a foreign conservative influence, af- 
fecting nominations and appointments in the county ; 
and now, when their suspicions are confirmed by proof, 
and they see the officious and intermeddling hand of 
foreign conservatism, pointing out who shall be the offi- 
cers of that county, they will repel this indignity upon 
them with the contempt it deserves. 

from each list, and sent thern to the senate. The nomination of the radi- 
cals was confirmed, but that of the hunkers was rejected iu the manner 
stated iu the text. 



1843.] RECORDER OF TROY. 8B1 

"It is to be regretted that these conservative disor- 
ganizers had not been content with their labors in their 
own counties. But it has been otherwise. Restless, as 
it were, to do the greatest mischief, and to bring odium 
upon themselves, they have travelled abroad to receive 
that odium and contempt due to their labors." 

On the 4th of April the senate acted upon the two re- 
ports, when a majority voted for rejecting the nomina- 
tions. 

Those who voted for rejecting were, Messrs. Denni- 
son, Deyo, Dixon, Hard, Hopkins, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, 
Putnam, Rhoades, Root, Ruger, Scott, Strong, Varney. 
Works— 16. 

The names of those who voted in favor of contirmin<^ 
the governor's nominations were, Messrs. Bartlit, Bockee, 
Chamberlain, Corning, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Franklin, 
Lott, Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, Wright — 13. 

It will be perceived that the rejection was produced 
by the votes of eight radical and eight whig members. 

Another difficulty of the same kind occurred quite at 
the latter part of the session, upon the nomination by the 
governor of David Buel for recorder of the city of Troy. 

Senator Strong had for five years been recorder of 
that city, and was (no doubt deservedly) iiighly esteem- 
ed by the people and the bar of Troy as a useful and 
excellent judge. The constitutional term of his office 
had expired, and being a member of the legislature he 
was ineligible to a reappointment. The people of Trov, 
as was stated by Mr. Strong when the subject of a nom- 
ination of a successor was before the senate, had not in- 
dicated who they desired should be appointed recorder ; 
but Gov. Bouck, contrary to an understanding between 
him and Mr. Strong, as the latter alleged, had nomina- 

31 



3G2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [18 13. 

ted Judcre Buel for the office. It seems also to be ad- 
mitted, by all parties, that Mr. Buel was not aware that 
his name was sent to the senate. Mr. Strong opposed 
the confirmation of this nomination in a speech of some 
length, in which he animadverted with great severity 
on the conduct of the governor, and the senate rejected 
the nomination by the following vote, Mr. Strong him- 
self declining to vote : 

For confirming. — Democrats: Messrs. Bartlit,Bockee, 
Chamberlain, Corning, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Lott, 
Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, Wright — 12. 

Against coyijirming . — Whigs: Messrs. Dickinson, 
Dixon, Franklin, Hard, Hopkins, Piatt, Putnam, Rhoades, 
Root, Works — 10. Democrats : Messrs. Denniscjn, De- 
yo, Hunter, Porter, Ruger, Scott, Sherwood, Vai-ney — 8. 

These rejections and some others, and the means by 
which they were procured, the hunkers contended were 
evidence of a violation of good faith to the party by the 
radicals, and a determination on their part to wage a 
war against the governor. 

Having mentioned the case of the recorder of Troy, 
in which Mr. Strong was personally concerned, it is per- 
haps justly due to him to copy an article from the Troy 
Budget, as evidence of the light in which his conduct 
was viewed by his democratic fellow-citizens of his own 
city, and the estimate formed of his official services by 
the Troy public : 

" When elected senator, we know that gentleman 
[Mr. Strong] held the office of recorder at the free dis- 
posal of his democratic fellow-citizens, both willing and 
desirous to relinquish it whenever they should signify 
not only their wish, but their willingness that he should 
do so. When the appointing power had become changed, 



1843.] RECORDER OF TROY. 363 

several citizens, under the well-known impression that 
Mr. Strong was desirous of vacating the recordership, 
(and most of them with no other understanding,) peti- 
tioned the governor in behalf of Judge Buel, an able 
and universally esteemed citizen. Meanwhile, nearly 
the entire bar of the city requested Mr. S., who is a 
great favorite as judge of the mayor's court, to retain, 
and the governor, at the same time, to continue him in 
the i)lace, to which the latter, we believe, had tacitly 
assented. Had an appointment under these circum- 
stances been made at the close of the session, it would 
have been as unexpected to those who had signed the 
petition for Judge Buel, as to the rest of the community. 

^ ■*(- tF ^ ^' ■?(•' 

"Judge B. never was an applicant for the office, and 
he would by no means have accepted it — as his high 
sense of honor will attest — with the wishes of the bar 
in behalf of the present incumbent, and his willingness 
to retain the post, so clearly manifest. Both these gen- 
tlemen are highly esteemed here by the members of 
their profession, and by the community at large, and 
there can be no misunderstanding between them and 
their friends on this subject. We are also compelled to 
state, since his name has been involved in the con- 
troversy, that Gen. Davis undisguisedly admits that he 
never advised or sanctioned the change in the recorder- 
ship. It may not be improper, however, in this connec- 
tion, to add, that the use of Gen. Davis's or Mr. Strong's 
name in this article is without their knowledge or ad- 
vice. And we may say, et passim, that we are glad to 
see Mr. S.'s philosophical coolness and quietude on the 
subject." 5, 

The policy pursued by the whig senators was ex- 



364 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 

tremely judicious, and well and successfully carried out. 
On all mere party questions on which the hunkers and 
radicals were irreconcilably divided, there was a suffi- 
cient number of whigs ever ready by their votes to de- 
cide the question in favor of one or the other section 
of the democratic party, as best suited their views of 
what was right or what was politic. 

We have no doubt the rejections of the governor's 
nominations for comparatively trifling offices, produced' 
more unkind feeling among the democratic members 
than any thing which occurred during the session. 

The legislature adjourned on the 18th of April. Not- 
withstanding the bitterness which at times had prevailed 
durinfif the session between the democratic members, a 
caucus was held on the evening before the adjourn- 
ment, which they generally attended, and in which there 
was an apparent cordial union. An address was read 
and approved unanimously, and resolutions were adopt- 
ed, by one of which the caucus recommended the sup- 
port of Martin Van Buren for the office of president of 
the United States. 

The whigs also held a caucus, at which they adopted 
an able address and some spirited resolutions. 

The democratic party succeeded at the charter elec- 
tion in Albany. At the charter election in New York 
the democratic ticket was equally successiul. The 
democrats obtained a large majority in the common 
council, and also elected Robert H. Morris for mayor, 
who only two years before had been removed from the 
office of recorder of that city, by Gov. Seward and the 
senate, for his conduct in relation to the Glentworth 
papers. 

On the 5th of Seotember, a convention of delegates 



1843.] STATE CONVENTION. 365 

from all the counties in the state assembled at Syracuse, 
for the purpose of electing delegates from the state of 
New York to represent the democratic party of the state 
in the national convention at Baltimore, to nominate a 
president and vice-president of the United States. The 
convention was called to order by Mr. Gardner, of Sara- 
toga ; and upon a ballot for a president of the conven- 
tion, William L. Marcy received 79 votes, and Samuel 
Young, 40. Mr. Marcy was of course declared elected. 

Some discussion took place, whether the delegates 
should be chosen by the convention, that is to say, by 
general ticket, or in congressional districts ; but on this 
question the assembly were nearly unanimous in favor 
of the choice by general ticket. There were but nine- 
teen votes against that mode, and three of the nineteen, 
Judge Oliver, of Yates county, Mr. Redfield, of Genesee, 
and Mr. Dean, of Putnam, declared that they thus voted 
because they were so instructed by their constituents.* 

The delegates were instructed to support Martin Van 
Buren for president. 

Among the resolutions which the convention adopted 
we observe one which declares that " the democracy 
repose full confidence in the capacity, integrity, fideli- 
ty, and patriotism of Willi.am C. Bouck, and that in 
him and the other distinguished individuals associated 
with him in the state administration, the convention rec- 
ognise a true devotion to the wishes and welfare of the 
people." 



* This decision is entitled to the more respect, because it was conceded 
that if the delegates had been chosen by congressional districts, every one 
of them would have supported Mr. Van Buren, who was unanimously rec- 
ommended by the convention as the candidate for the presidency who 
ought to be supported by the New York delegation. 

31* 



366 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l8i3. 

Before the adjournment, Richard D. Davis, from 
Dutchess county, of whom we have formerly spoken,* 
and who was a delegate from the county of Dutchess, 
delivered a powerful and eloquent address, for which 
he received the thanks of the convention. 

It is with deep and painful regret that we record the 
death of William Ruger, a senator from Jefferson coun- 
ty, whom we have several times mentioned. He died 
on the 22d day of May, after an illness of a few days. 
We knew him well from his boyhood. He was a self- 
made man, resolute and almost stubborn in the support 
of his principles, but honest, and sincerely faithful to 
those for whom he professed friendship. 

We have also to notice the death of Smith Thompson, 
a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, of 
whom we have frequently had occasion to speak in the 
preceding volumes of this work. It is unnecessary for 
us to say he was an able, learned, and independent jurist. 
His opinions contained in our reports, and his public life, 
afford the best evidence of this. We will only add, that 
we cordially concur in the following obituary notice of 
his death by Mr. Croswell : 

" It as with deep regret that we announce the death 
of the Hon. Smith Thompson, one of the associate jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He 
expired at his residence in Poughkeepsie, after a pro- 
tracted illness, on the afternoon of Monday last, at the 
advanced age of seventy-six years. 

" Judge Thompson filled the station he held at the 
time of his death, through a period of twenty years, 
having been called to the post upon the death of Judge 
Brockholst Livingston in IS'iS. He had previously held 

• 2 Political History, p. 527. 



1843.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 307 

successively the offices of district-attorney of the old 
middle district, associate and chief-justice of the Su- 
preme Court, (succeeding Ciiief-justice Kent, in the lat- 
ter station, upon his elevation to the chancellorship,) and 
secretary of the navy under Mr. Monroe. 

" Judge Thompson was peculiarly fitted by his ex- 
tended legal knowledge, and his cool and clear-headed 
sagacity for the station, of which he was so long an ac- 
knowledged ornament — while the eminent purity of his 
life reflected additional lustre upon his public career. 
The death of such a man, thus exalted in his official and 
private relations, will long be lamented as a public ca- 
lamity. 

" The courts in session in the city of New York, upon 
receiving intelligence of the death of Judge Thomp- 
son, in respect for his memory and virtues, adjourned 
over." 

The feuds that prevailed at Albany, and among the 
democratic members of the legislature, did not to any 
extent affect the people in the country counties. They 
were, it is true, felt in the county of Oneida; but there the 
hunkers seem, at that time, to have held a majority over 
both whigs and radicals. However, Mr. Horatio Seymour, 
who was very popular, was a candidate for the assem- 
bly from the city of Utica, and undoubtedly added great 
strength to the ticket ; besides, we believe both parties 
at that time in Oneida county held themselves bound by 
regular nominations. 

That the divisions in Albany did not affect the elec- 
tion in the state, is proved by the general result. Nearly 
three to one of the members returned to the assembly 
were democrats ; and in eight senatorial districts, the 
democratic party succeeded in all except the eighth. The 



368 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOKK. [1843. 

senate after this election contained twenty-six demo- 
crats and only six whigs. 

David R. F. Jones was elected from the first senato- 
rial district, in the place of Mr. Franklin ; Joshua B. 
Smith, from the second, in the place of Mr. Hunter; 
Stephen C. Johnson, from the third, in the place of Gen. 
Root ; Orville Clark, from the fourth, in the place of Mr. 
Hopkins ; Thomas Barlow, from the fifth, in the place 
of Mr. Ely, and George C. Sherman, to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the death of Mr. Ruger ; Clark Burnham, 
from the sixth, in the place of Mr. Dickinson ; Albert 
Lester, from the seventh, in the place of Mr. Sherwood; 
and Frederick F. Backus, from the eighth, in the place 
of Mr. Dixon. 



1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. S&J 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Character of Leading Members of the Legislature of 1844 — Democratic 
Caucus for Speaker — Mr. Littlefield uominated and elected — James R. 
Rose elected Clerk — Governor's Message — Meeting at Albany of the 
friends of a Convention — Formation of the Committees of the Assembly 
— Mr. Foster's Resolution for the Reduction of Postage — Mr. Foster 
elected President pro tem. of the Senate — Death of Judge Cowen — 
Samuel Beardsk-y appointed Justice of tlie Supreme Court — Death of 
G»n. P. B. Porter — James V. L. Pruyn and James J. Wadsworth ap- 
pointed Regents of the University — J. P. Cushman resigns the office of 
Circuit Judge, aud A. J. Parker appointed his successor — Mr. Farring- 
ton appointed Treasurer — J. C. Spencer nominated Associate Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court — His nomination is rejected by the 
Senate — Causes — Silas Wright nominated for same Office — He declines 
— Nomination of Chancellor Walworth for same Office — Afterwards 
the Chancellor's name withdrawn by the President, when Judge Nel- 
son was uominated and appointed. 

1844. As the condition and movements of the political 
parties and sections of parties in the legislature in this and 
the succeeding year, will become, as we proceed in our 
story, highly interesting, and as the result of their action 
produced important and momentous consequences, it 
may be proper in the outset, to present a sketch of the 
characters of the leading and active members of the le- 
gislature. Of the state officers, we have spoken in the 
preceding chapter. 

By the expiration of the terins of office of Gen. Root, 
James G. Hopkins, and Andrew B. Dickinson, the whigs 
had lost much of the talent they formerly had in the 
senate. True, Mr. Hard and Mr. Rhoades, of whom 



370 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

we have heretofore spoken, were there. Mi-. Nehemiah 
Phitt, of Tioga county, a man of sound mind and great 
personal worth, but who did not take a very active part 
in legislative proceedings or party operations, also re- 
mained in the senate. Mr. Harvey Putnam, a lawyer 
and wealthv banker from Attica, was a shrewd, saa-a- 
cious political manager, and when he chose to take the 
trouble, could debate a question with ability and great 
ingenuity. Mr. Samuel Works, also a whig senator 
from the eighth district, was a practical farmer. He is 
said to be a man of great native sagacity. Although he 
seldom attempted to take a part in debate, he possessed 
considerable influence with his friends in the legislature, 
and great popularity at home. If we mistake not, he 
was a veteran antimason, and may be considered at that 
time as the only remaining representative of that by- 
gone party. 

In the assembly the whigs had very few representa- 
tives; but among them were two men of distinguished 
ability. We do not intend to imply by this that the 
other whig members were destitute of talents ; we pre- 
sume they were all, and we know some of them were, 
men of great worth and respectable attainments, and 
competent legislators. The two members to whom we 
allude are Samuel Stevens of Albany and Archibald L. 
Linn. Of Mr. Stevens, we have spoken in a preceding 
volume. He now supplied, and very ably supplied, the 
place of his immediate predecessor from Albany, the 
talented and much-esteemed late attorney-general, Wil- 
lis Hail. 

Mr. Linn, we believe, was at that time mayor of the 
city of Schenectady, and had lately been a member of 
congress from the district of which Schenectady is a 



1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 371 

part, and while at Washington had acquired a respect- 
able standing and character in the house of representa- 
tives. Although zealously attached to the whig party, 
and firm in the support of the whig cause, the dignity 
of his deportment, his candor and courtesy as a member 
of the assembly, gave him, though his party was greatly 
in the minority, considerable influence in that body. 

In the senate, the democratic party, including both 
sections of it, possessed much talent, and we may add 
personal worth. 

Lieutenant-governor Dickinson had been a suc- 
cessful lawyer, and had formerly been a member of the 
senate. In both situations he had acquitted himself 
creditably, and acquired a reputation for much more 
than ordinary talents. He was active and energetic, 
both as a legislator and politician. As evidence of the 
superior grade of his native talents, it is proper to state 
that he was bred a mechanic, and did not commence the 
practice of law until after he was married and had a 
family. Upon being admitted to the bar he in a very 
short time acquired an extensive practice. He was a 
decided friend of Governor Bouck, and at the election 
of 1842 reluctantly consented, through the pressing soli- 
citude of friends, to be a candidate for the office of 
lieutenant-governor. His friends were the more urgent 
because they believed that the influence of his name, 
especially in the southwestern tier of counties, would 
add essentially to the probability of success of the guber- 
natorial ticket. 

We have heretofore mentioned Judge Scott from 
New York. He belonged to the radical party ; he was 
a sound-minded, though not a brilliant man. Though 
candid and frank in declaring his principles as a politi- 



372 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

cian, he was resolute and unyielding in his adherence to 
them. 

D. R. Floyd Jones, also from the city of New York, 
had been a member of the assembly from that city the 
preceding session. He then acted with the hunker par- 
ty, and he pursued the same course as a senator. He 
is the grandson of that celebrated lawyer, the first comp- 
troller, and inherited much of his talents, though perhaps 
he was a less scheming and ardent pohtician.* Courteous 
in his deportment, both in legislative discussions, in which 
he often took part, and in his social intercourse, he de- 
served, and we presume acquired, the friendship and re- 
spect of all parties. 

John A. Lott, from the city of Brooklyn, is an able 
lawyer, and was one of the most useful and valuable 
members of the senate. His industry in examining, his 
accuracy in framing, and his care in passing laws, to- 
gether with his untiring efforts to guard against hasty 
and imprudent legislation, enabled him to render essen- 
tial service to the state. " He enjoyed," says a corre- 
spondent, " in a high degree the respect and good-will 
of all sections and parties." He was a hunker. 

Of Robert Dennison, from the second district, we 
have had, and shall hereafter have, frequent occasion to 
spe:ik. At present we will merely remark, that he was 
shrewd and sagacious, an ardent and zealous politician, 
and indomitable in maintaining and defending his prin- 
ciples, and in the pursuit of his political projects. 

We have no personal knowledge of Abraham Bockee, 
of Dutchess county. All we know of him is what ap- 
pears in the reports of the proceedings in the senate, 



* See 1 Political History, p. 75 ; also p. 104. 



1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. o7'J 

and his published opinions given in the Court for the 
Correction of Errors. These, however, prove him to be 
a man of decided talents. From the time he became a 
member of the senate until the session of 1846, when 
the convention bill came before the senate, he acte4 
with the hunker party, and was considered as belonging 
to it. Since that time he has been regarded as a radical. 

We have several times mentioned HarveyW. Strong, 
and intimated our views of his talents and character as 
a legislator. " He was," says a liberal and intelligent 
correspondent who belongs to the hunker party, " an 
excellent debater, and a leading member among the 
friends of the state officers." 

Erastus Corning, a merchant of high standing and 
character from the city of Albany, though he did not 
mingle much in debate, was, from his knowledge of 
commercial and moneyed operations, a very useful and 
highly influential member of the senate. In 1842 he 
was zealous for the passage of the financial bill of that 
vear. His extensive knowledge of the condition and 
operation of the banks and of the money-market, not 
only of this country but of Europe, enabled him to fore- 
see that a radical reform in the expenditures of the state 
was absolutely necessary, in order to preserve its credit 
from total prostration. He however acted wHh the 
hunker party ; and from his profound knowledge of men, 
his great native sagacity, and the caution and prudence 
which marked his conduct, he exercised a great influ- 
ence in the legislature, not only with his fellow-demo- 
crats, but with the whigs. 

John C. Wright, of Schoharie, and Thomas B. 
Mitchell, of Montgomery county, were both of them 
lawyers in good standing, and friends to the governor 

32 



374 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 

Mr. Wright afterwards distinguished himself in the bit- 
ter and almost personal contest with Col. Young, in 
which he acquitted himself with skill and ability, though 
it is to be regretted that too much unkind personal feel- 
ing was exhibited during that discussion. 

Mr. Mitchell was more reserved, and did not mingle 
so much in the debates as his talents and address would 
have warranted. He left the senate with a character 
respectable for talents and usefulness. He was a warm 
and zealous hunker. 

Gen. Orville Clark, from Warren county, also be- 
longed to the hunker party. He took a very active part 
in all the proceedings of the senate, and was a man of 
as much colloquial power and as great fluency, perhaps, 
as any member of that body. 

Henry A. Foster, from Oneida county, who, in 1837, 
was a member of congress, was a leading democratic 
senator, and a hunker. Had we, in this brief review of 
the senate in 1844, arranged the members according to 
their reputation for talents, Mr. Foster ought undoubt- 
edly to have been placed at the head of the list. In de- 
bate he is truly formidable. The rapid and effective 
action of his intellectual power, his retentive memory, 
his ready recollection of facts and even dates, combined 
with his sharp and caustic style of speaking,, made him 
respected and feared by his opponents, and the admired 
champion of his friends. A personal and political friend 
of Mr. Foster, in a letter to the author, concludes a very 
laudatory description of him by saying : " His great de- 
fect as a party leader is the reserve of his disposition, 
which prevents him from combining his friends in an 
■effective manner." 

George C. Sherman, the successor of Mr. Ruger) took 



1811.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 375 

sides with the radical party, although when he was 
elected it was supposed (though we do not know that 
such was the case with his immediate constituents) that 
his predilections were with the hunkers. We have no 
personal knowledge of him, but have heard him spoken 
of as a shrewd, managing man. 

Thomas Barlow was nominated and elected a sena- 
tor while he was county-superintendent of common 
schools of the county of Madison. Probably his zeal 
and efficiency in the cause of popular education was 
one means of introducing him into political life. After 
he became a member of the senate, he did not lose the 
interest he had formerly manifested in the improvement 
of common schools ; on the contrary he continued, while 
in that station, their faithful and zealous advocate. On 
all questions which arose in the senate involving private 
rights or human liberty, Mr. Barlow was their active 
and efficient defender. He ultimately connected him- 
self w ith the radicals. 

We had not much personal knowledge of William 
Bartlit, of the ^venth district, but our predilections 
were decidedly favorable to his head and heart. We 
are not aware that he took a very active part in the sen- 
ate. Notwithstanding the sharp and unpleasant contest 
he had with his colleague, Mr. Porter, we think his|dis- 
position inclined him more to friendly social intercourse 
than to political, and especially personal collisions. ' He 
made an unsuccessful, but we have.no doubt sincere 
effi^rt, to reconcile the differences between Messrs. Cros- 
well and Van Dyck. Mr. Bartlit was a hunker. 

Of Albert Lester, our worthy and estimable corre- 
spondent, belonging to the hunker party, thus speaks : — 
" He was a sound lawyer, and an upright man in his 



370 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [1844. 

private transactions. As a member of the senate he 
was very valuable for his industry, his care in framing 
laws, and his constant and vigilant attention to legisla- 
tive business. His acerbity of temper and strong preju- 
dices too frequently warped his judgment." We can 
very readilv believe that the temper of an honest man, 
however benevolent he might naturally be, thrown into 
the vortex of New York politics, might become soured, 
and that he might also become unreasonably suspicious 
of the motives of his opponents ; but we doubt not that the 
impulses of Mr. Lester's heart were honest and patriotic ; 
and though these impulses may have sometimes misled 
his judgment, with our correspondent we believe he was 
a " valuable" member of the senate. 

John Porter, of Cayuga, was also an excellent law- 
yer, and decidedly a man of talents. He was not 
wordy : he possessed a clear, discriminating, logical 
mind. He was, and is, no doubt, strictly an honest man ; 
but either from the constitution of his mental faculties, 
or from some physical defect in the organization of his 
nervous system, he was extremely acrid and irritable, 
and so much so that it impaired his influence, and pre- 
vented his being as useful, either to his political friends 
or to the state in general, as his conceded ability, both 
natural and acquired, and his integrity of purpose would 
otherwise have rendered him. 

The quiet and peaceable days enjoyed by any coun- 
try are unquestionably the most prosperous ; and yet 
such periods furnish no materials for the historian. 
Those who administer the government during such 
times scarcely obtain a place in history, notwithstand- 
ing peace and prosperity may have been produced by 
their wisdom and virtue. In like manner some of the 



1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 37"? 

most useful members of a legislative body, who merely 
give their advice to those who consult them, and vote 
according to the dictates of their own consciences, are 
frequently lost sight of in the bustle and strife of politi- 
cal gladiators, and the din of contending partisans. Of 
this description were several of the senators whose 
names we have not mentioned, among whom we cannot 
refrain from alluding to the modest and amiable Clark 
BuRNHAM, of Chenango, and the sagacious and kind- 
hearted Carlos P. Scovil, of Lewis county. 

Neither our space nor the time of our reader, would 
permit us to describe, with minuteness, the efficient and 
influential democratic members of the assembly of 1844. 
It is, however, necessary to mention a few of them by 
name, but we hope it will not therefore be inferred that 
there were not many other members of that body who 
distinguished themselves during the session, and had an 
important agency in influencing the action of that branch 
of the legislature. 

We shall first invite attention to Michael Hoffman, 
of Herkimer ; and we cannot better describe him than 
by copying from a reliable correspondent who belonged 
to a section of the democratic party adverse to that to 
which Mr. Hoffiuan was attached, and who was himself 
a member of the assembly during that session : " Al- 
though," says our correspondent, " Mr. Hoffman failed 
in procuring a nomination for the speakership, he exer- 
cised a powerful influence in the house. The distin- 
guished position he had occupied in the legislature 
of 1842 in connection with the financial policy of 
the state, his parliamentary knowledge, and his ability 
in debate, gave him great weight, and rendered him a 
formidable opponent. Mr. Hoffman is a man of ardent, 

32* 



^78 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [1844. 

and I might say chivalrous, temperament. He is very- 
animated, and has remarkable powers of denunciation. 
These powers he usually exerts, and these denuncia- 
tions he usually bestows upon measures rather than 
men. He is courteous towards his opponents, and gives 
a dignified and parliamentary tone to the discussions in 
which he engages." 

We heartily concur with these remarks. We will, 
however, add, that Mr. Hoffman is a learned and able 
lawyer, and that, as might be expected, from the name 
he bears and the nation from which he is a descendant, 
when once he forms an opinion, he is irrevocably at- 
tached to it with a tenacity which almost amounts to 
stubbornness. 

Next to Mr. Hoffman, who we hardly need say was 
the leader of the radicals, we must mention Horatio 
Seymour, who now for the second time was elected a 
member of the assembly from the county of Oneida. 

We have, we believe, before remarked, that Horatio 
Seymour is the son of that excellent legislator and ca- 
nal commissioner, the late Hon. Henry Seymour. Mr. 
Seymour, of whom we speak, entered the legislature in 
1842. He was then quite young. He had read law, 
but having had a large estate cast upon him, as one of 
the heirs of his father, and in right of his wife, who is a 
daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Albany, the 
care of his property engrossed so much of his time that 
he paid little attention to his profession, and never dis- 
tinguished himself in it ; but his literary attainments are 
varied and respectable, and he probably very early ac- 
quired a taste for politics and for public life. We have 
seldom known a man who possessed higher and better 
qualifications for usefulness and success in a populai 



1844. J LEGISLATURE OF 1?44. 379 

government than Horatio Seymour. Kind and social 
by nature, affable in his deportment, possessing a shrewd, 
discerning mind, fluent, and at times eloquent in debate, 
enlarged in his views, liberal almost to a fault to his op- 
ponents, and fascinating in his address, no man seemed 
better calculated to acquire an influence in a legislative 
body than he, and few, indeed, at his time of life, have 
in fact acquired a better standing or more substantial 
moral power. He had early made himself well ac- 
quainted with the great and varied interests of the state 
of New York, an acquisition which aided him much in 
debate, and gave him an advantage over older members, 
and which, at the same time, enabled him to render ser- 
vices in legislation highly useful and beneficial to the 
state. 

We have no personal knowledge of William F. Al- 
len, of Oswego, who was a member of the assembly in 
1844, but is now a justice of the Supreme Court. That 
he is a man of decided talent is well known. He was a 
friend of Gov. Bouck, although on some questions which 
arose in the assembly, he voted with Mr. Hoff'man against 
what were understood to be the views of the governor. 

Joseph F. Bosworth, from the city of New York, 
was, beyond doubt, one of the ablest men in either of 
the legislative houses. " He was," says a correspond- 
ent, who was a fellow-member of the assembly with Mr. 
Bosworth, "an excellent lawyer and a good debater. 
His course in the legislature was peculiar. He some- 
times acted with one section of the democratic party, 
and sometimes with the other. He has since been per- 
manent and decided, having attached himself to the 
hunker section." 

Of Calvin T. Hulburd, of St. Lawrence county, at. 



."iSO POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

present we will only remark, that he was a man of en- 
larged and liberal views — that his desire for the general 
good elevated him above the petty trickery of party. 
So predominant in his mind were the principles of be- 
nevolence, that we were going to say he could not, if he 
would, give up to party those intellectual powers which 
"were meant for mankind." He belonged to the radi- 
cal party ; but a hunker correspondent, who was a mem- 
ber of the assembly with Mr. Hulburd, thus writes of 
him : — "Mr. Hulburd was an able man, and distinguish- 
ed himself in the measure of the establishment of a state 
normal school, which he advocated with ability and 
success." 

Ashley Sampson, of Rochester, was, and we believe 
continues to be, one of the most distinguished members 
of the bar in Western New York. The business of 
legislation was new to him ; but he possesses a dry, 
quiet humor, which rendered his public speeches amu- 
sing and effective. The house always heard him with 
pleasure. 

Besides the gentlemen we have named, there were 
Ambrose L. Pinny, from Dutchess, Leonard Lee, from 
Orange, George S. Gorham, from Otsego, and Clark 
B. CocKRAN, from Montgomery, and several others who 
took ;in active part in the proceedings of the house. 
Several of these gentlemen, and especially the member 
last named, distinguished themselves very creditably, 
and afforded great promise of future usefulness in public 
life. 

That able and eloquent lawyer, Samuel Stevens, 
from Albany, whom we have several times mentioned, 
and therefore need not here describe, confessedly stood 
at the head of the whig party in the house, and as a man 



1S14.] LEGISLATURE OF 184 381 

of talents and an able legislator, was justly regarded as 
holding a high, if not the highest, rank in the assembly. 

Bexjamin Fraxklin Hall had been elected from Cay- 
uga county, which, before the election, was believed to be 
strongly democratic, in consequence of some local dis- 
sensions in that county, and probably partly by reason 
of the personal popularity of himself and his colleagues. 
Mr. Hall was a lawyer of respectable standing and char- 
acter, and a zealous and active whiff. He belonged to 
that school of whig politicians of which Gov. Seward is 
the head, and had favored not only the views of Mr. 
Seward as to internal improvements and legal reform, 
but his opinions in relation to schools for the children of 
foreigners. On the subject of constitutional reform, 
Mr. Hall had before his election declared, that material 
changes in the existing constitution were necessary, 
which, in his judgment, could never be effected by legis- 
lative recommendations, and, therefore, that a conven- 
tion was indispensable. It will hereafter be perceived, 
that during the session about which we are now writing, 
he made a vigorous effort to carry into effect his views. 

Upon a review of our notice of the members of the 
assembly, we find we have omitted to mention one 
member (and we presume many others) who deserves 
especial attention. That member is Thomas G. Al- 
voRD, of the county of Onondaga. He, although a new 
member, evinced great energy of character and inde- 
pendence of principle, and exercised an efficient in- 
fluence during the session. 

There were, at the election in the preceding Novem- 
ber, 92 democratic members elected to the assembly. 
The legislature was to organize on Tuesday, the sec- 
ond day of January, but a large portion of the members, 



382 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844, 

probably a majority of them, arrived in Albany on Sat- 
urday, and from that time until Monday evening an 
excited canvass for speaker was kept up among the 
democratic members. 

Elisha Litchfield, of Onondaga, and Horatio Sey- 
mour, of Oneida, had each their respective friends 
among the hunkers. Mr. Litchfield had been a mem- 
ber of congress, and long known, in the section of the 
state where he resided, as a man of great worth and 
weight of character ; but we think the most intelligent men 
of the hunker party would, even at that time, have pre- 
ferred Mr. Seymour. Nevertheless, that sagacious and 
far-seeing politician, Edwin Croswell, and other reflect- 
ing men, perceived the advantage which would be gain- 
ed by identifying with them, in a great central western 
county, strongly democratic as Onondaga was, a man 
of Mr. Litchfield's weight of character and long stand- 
ing in the democratic party. Mr. Seymour himself saw 
the propriety and polic) of the measure, and before the 
caucus, declined to be a competitor. The radicals were 
also divided. A part of them were for Mr. Hulburd ; 
but the majority were of opinion that Mr. Hoffriian, the 
great champion of their favorite financial system, ought 
to be supported. The stronger feeling was for Mr. 
Hulburd, but he would not consent that his claims should 
be urged, and that wing of the democratic party, before 
the caucus assembled, united upon Mr. Hoffman. Had 
he been permitted to decline, (we cannot believe that 
Mr. Hoffman felt much personal interest in the ques- 
tion,) and had he used his influence in favor of Mr. Hul- 
burd, we were at the time, and are now inclined to the 
opiiuon, that such was the personal kindness and friend- 
ship felt for Mr. Hulburd, he would have been nominated 



1841.] DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS. 383 

Ninety-one of the ninety-two democratic members 
elected, met in caucus on Monday evening, when, upon 
balloting for speaker, Mr. Litchfield received fifty-six 
votes, and Mr. Hoffman thirty-five ; and one vote was 
given for Mr. Redington, of St. Lawrence. On motion 
of Mr. Hoflilnan, Mr. Litchfield was declared unani- 
mously nominated. 

Mr. James R. Rose, after three ballotings, was nomi- 
nated clerk, against ?<Ir. Wales, who was the most for- 
* . . . 

midable candidate in opposition to him. 

When the house met the next day, Mr. Litchfield was 
elected speaker. He received 90 votes, and IMr. Ste- 
vens, the whig candidate, received 28. Mr. Rose was 
also elected clerk against Mr. George W. Weed, who 
was supported by the whigs, by a vote of 89 to 33. 

The governor in his message states the public debt at 
$23,817, 107.62, exclusive of available means in the hands 
of the commissioners of the sinking fund, and the in- 
terest on that debt at $1,377,261.84. The canal tolls 
the preceding year amounted to $1,910,701.86. He 
reviews the policy, and admits the necessity of the tax 
law of 1842, and with regard to further expenditures for 
internal improvement, the governor remarks, that " in 
view of the large expenditure on some parts of the pub- 
lic works, and the comparatively small sums required to 
complete them, regrets have been felt in some quarters 
that the surjilus revenue of the state from all existing 
resources, including the product of the tax, was placed 
beyond the reach of the officers of the government, or 
the legislature, by the solemn pledges of that law. The 
means of doing any thing more at this time than ma- 
king all needful repairs, and keeping the canals in a 
good navigable condition, cannot be obtained without 



384 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEV*' YORK. [l844. 

increasing the present state tax, or disregarding the pub- 
lic faith. Tlie former I deem highly inexpedient, and 
the latter entirely inadmissible." 

He nevertheless adds : 

" While I approve of the pi'esent policy of the state 
forced upon us by the exigencies of our situation, it 
cannot be denied that it has been attended with some 
injurious results. Individuals in some instances have 
been incommoded by the unfinished state of new bridges, 
designed to take the place of old ones removed ; and in 
several places roads and streets have been so obstruct- 
ed by the progress or changes made in the suspended 
v/orks, as to cause considerable public inconvenience. I 
do not doubt that the legislature will feel it to be their 
duty to remove all just grounds of complaint, in regard 
to these subjects. What is necessary to be done for 
these purposes, cannot be regarded in any other light 
than as repairs, and the inconsiderable expenditure re- 
quired can, in my opinion, be made without a departure 
from the policy of 1842. Where new structures are so 
nearly finished that it would cost less to complete them 
than to keep in repair the old ones they were designed 
to supersede, they should, in my judgment, be put in a 
condition to be used. Whether the new structures shall 
be brought into use in such cases, instead of sustaining 
the old ones, is only a question as to the best mode of 
making repairs, and keeping the canals in a good navi- 
gable state, and where economy is best consulted by 
completing the former, that course should be pursued. 
Under this impression, I recommend that the canal 
board be authorized to complete such new works as, in 
their opinion, can be done with better economy than to 
sustain those designed to be superseded. It is also 



1844.] «;ovkrnor's message. 385 

proper that 1 should suggest that some parts of the new 
works suspended are exposed, in the condition in which 
they are left, to great and permanent injury. Where 
this can be prevented, at an inconsiderable expense, 
compared with the damages likely to be sustained, good 
economy requires it to be done. I commend the subject 
to your attention." 

It is obvious that the governor was desirous, on the 
subject of expenditures by the state, to take a cautious 
middle course between the extremes of the two sections 
of his own party. But the great subject discussed by 
the governor in his message, and which had, for some 
time previous to the meeting of the legislature, engaged^ 
the attention of the public, was, whether a convention 
should be called to revise and amend the constitution. 
This measure was urged principally for two reasons : — 

First. From the increase of the population and business 
of the state, more judicial force, and a different organi- 
zation of the courts, had become absolutely necessary. 

Second. A general opinion began now to prevail that 
some restrictions on the power of the legislature to loan 
the money or the credit of the state to corporations, or 
to increase the public debt by undertaking to construct 
new roads or canals, should be adopted and made a part 
of the organic law. 

But while a large majority of the people, and probably 
of the legislature, conceded that these alterations in the 
organic law were necessary, and indeed indispensable, 
when any specific amendments involving these princi- 
ples were proposed in the legislature, they differed so 
much about the details, that hitherto they had been un- 
able to settle upon any distinct propositions to submit 
to the people, which could obtain the support of a con- 

33 



386 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

stitutional majority of the two houses. Hence the 
friends of reform insisted that a convention was abso- 
lutely necessary. 

T[ie governor in his message took ground against the 
call of a convention, and argued the question with great 
ability. He admitted that the constitution required 
amendment in several particulars, and especially in re- 
gard to the points we have mentioned, but he insisted 
that all the necessary amendments could be made if a 
proper spirit of compromise should prevail ; and he be- 
lieved that by this course the expense and hazard of in- 
viting a convention (for an act for calling one would be 
a proceeding beyond the pale of the constitution) might 
be avoided. After advising specifically several amend- 
ments, the governor concludes by saying : 

" The foregoing suggestions for amending the consti- 
tution are based on the conviction that all required mod- 
ifications can be effected in the manner prescribed, and 
that the people prefer the established and economical 
mode of acting upon distinct and clearly-defined propo- 
sitions ; and that a convention can only be necessary 
when the legislature shall fail to agree upon such amend- 
ments as may be demanded by the popular sentiment ; 
and even in that case, the question should first be sub- 
mitted to. the people." 

The message, taken as a whole, is a very able one, and 
written in a style quite superior to his first message. 

From a view of the proceedings of the legislature 
at its session in 1843, the radicals suspected, and 
some of them believed that an association had been 
formed, with Governor Bouck at its head, which com- 
bined the banking and internal improvement inter- 
ests, the object of which was to change the policy estab- 



184 i.] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM. 387 

li^hed by ihe act of 1842 ; and they suggested that the 
resolutions of democratic conventions held in some forty 
or fifty counties during the summer and autumn of 1843, 
decidedly and warmly approving of the law of '42, in- 
duced that class of politicians to abandon their object ; 
and hence they said that the Argus, in October, 1813, 
announced itself in ''favor of Gov. Bouck's debt-paying 
policy y Their intentions and this combination were 
and are denied by the hunkers. If such combination 
ever existed, we do not believe all the members or even 
all the leaders of the hunker party were privy to it, for 
we have conversed with more than one gentleman of 
veracity of that party who deny all knowledge of such 
an association. 

It is certain, however, that Mr. Hoffman and Col. 
Young believed such to be the fact, and therefore ar- 
rived at the conclusion that a constitutional convention, 
or rather a constitutional provision, was absolutely ne- 
cessary in order to secure the permanency of their fa- 
vorite policy. 

We say Mr. Hoffman arrived at this conclusion, be- 
cause, soon after the termination of the general election 
in November, 1843, about fifty radical citizens of Alba- 
ny signed a call for a meeting at the capitol for the pur- 
pose of sustaining the cause of constitutional reform, 
through the agency of a state convention. The meeting 
was held on the 21st of November, of which the Hon. 
Bradford II. Wood was chairman. The following were 
among the resolutions adopted by that meeting: 

" Resolved, That we believe the constitution of this 
state needs revision and vital and elemental modifica- 
tions, both in the extent of the power to be delegated by 
the people and in the manner of its administration ; that 



388 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

these changes include the entire prohibition of the right 
of government to entail a public debt upon the people, 
except in time of war or insurrection, without their con- 
sent expressed directly through the ballot-boxes; and 
also the right to erect privileged incorporations, the 
members of which shall enjoy a dispensation from the 
ordinary obligations of debt ; that they also contemplate 
the limitation of the central power of government, by the 
return to the people in their town and county organiza- 
tion — first,, of the power of the legislature over matters 
of merely sectional interest, and, second, of the power of 
the executive over the local administrative and judicial 
officers of the state ; that they contemplate also such a 
modification of the state judiciary as shall ensure to the 
people a cheap and prompt administration of justice, and 
dispense with the necessity of a tribunal of last resort, 
armed both with judicial and legislative power, and using 
one to justify and fortify the other. 

" Resolved, That we seek these changes through the 
agency of a convention, constituted by law, and rep- 
resenting the whole people ; because repeated unavailing 
efforts by the people have shown that it is hopeless to 
seek of the representative body the limitation of its own 
power ; because the combinations of local and corpo- 
rate interests in that body are already armed, by the con- 
stitution, with a VETO POWER against the people, which 
will almost inevitably defeat the popular will ; because 
we believe, with Jefferson, that a solemn opportunity 
should be afforded to each generation to reconsider and 
revise the charter of their rights and liberties, to accom- 
modate it to the circumstances in which they live, and 
to renew in its behalf the expression of their loyalty and 
devotion." 



1844.] COMMITTEES OF THE ASSEMBLY. 389 

The first of the above resolutions, it will be seen, 
shadows forth some of the material alterations which 
were actually made by the convention of 1846. Mr. 
Hoffman attended this meeting, and the editors of the 
Atlas say made a speech which occupied two hours in 
its delivery. 

The Argus speaks coldly of the meeting, and con- 
cludes a brief article on the subject by saying : 

" We believe also, in the language of the St. Law- 
rence resolution, ' That the best mode of effecting con- 
stitutional reform is to promote the adoption, in the 
manner prescribed by the constitution, of those amend- 
ments which are of most pressing importance to the 
public welfare.' " 

It is very probable that these proceedings, and the 
ground taken by several of the democratic newspapers 
in the state, induced Mr. Bouck to occupy a large por- 
tion of his message in discussing the question whether 
a convention ought to be called. 

Immediately after the organization of the assembly 
some difficulty occurred in forming the standing com- 
mittees. Tne three great committees of the house were 
the committee of ways and means, that on canals, and 
that on the judiciary. Messrs. Seymour, Allen, and Bos- 
worth were all ambitious voung men, distinguished for 
their talents, and leaders in the hunker party. It was 
therefore desirable to place each of them at the head of 
an important committee. Mr. Hoffman in 1842 was 
chairman of the committee of ways and means, and from 
his age and standing the public feeling would not toler- 
ate displacing him ; and if he was made chairman of that 
committee, only two important committees were left to 
be apportioned among the three gentlemen ".e have 

33* 



390 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

mentioned. In this state of things, Mr. Allen, chairman 
of the committee on the rules of the house, consisting of 
himself, Seymour, Hoffman, Bosworth, and Hulburt, 
reported in favor of creating a new standing committee, 
to be called the committee on amendments to the consti- 
tution, to whom all matters in relation to that subject 
should be referred. This proposition, was opposed by 
Messrs. Hoffman, Stevens, and Hulburt, and supported 
by Messrs. Allen, Seymour, and Bosworth. In the pro- 
gress of the debate, Mr. Youngs, of Queens county, moved 
to amend the report by striking out so much of it as re- 
lated to the appointment of the new committee on con- 
stitutional amendments, and the motion was adopted by 
the large vote of 98 to 36. In the end Mr. Hoffman 
was appointed chairman of the committee of ways and 
means, Mr. Sevmour of that on canals, and Mr. Allen 
of the judiciary committee. A select committee was 
ordered on that part of the governor's message which 
related to amendments of the constitution, of which Mr. 
Bosworth was appointed chairman. 

It will be seen by the vote on the report of Mr. Allen, 
proposing to make alterations in the rules cff the house, 
that although Mr. Hoffman failed of being nominated 
for speaker, soon after the house was organized the ma- 
jority of that body was with him. A reliable corre- 
spondent from Albany says : " A few days after the 
choice of .speaker, on three successive occasions he (Mr. 
Hoffman) carried with him, against the speaker and his 
three friends, Seymour, Bosworth, and Allen, a majority 
of the house, and two to one of the democratic mem- 
bers. This alarmed them. Bosworth joined Hoffman, 
leaving Seymour alone to combat him, while Allen was 
sometimes with Seymour and sometimes with Hoffman ; 



1S44.] SEYMOUR, BOSWORTH, AND ALLEN. 391 

but," adds the same correspondent, " these three young 
and very clever men were secretly* acting in concert." 
" The people's resolution" was passed, Seymour oppo- 
sing and voting against it. But when they came to the 
subject of the finances, Bosworth suddenly left Hoffman, 
and denounced him in the house. This, with what 
the influence of the governor had done, left Mr. Hoff- 
man in a small minority on the questions relating to the 
canal and financial policy advocated by Messrs. Sey- 
mour and Bosworth, as we shall state more fully here- 
after. 

During this session, various important questions were 
discussed, as well in the senate as in the assembly. 
These questions, and the debates to which they gave 
rise, we should take pleasure in reviewing, did our limits 
allow ; but to give in detail a history of the legislation 
of the session, would swell this volume to an unreasona- 
ble size. The movements, however, in relation to the 
nomination and election of president, and the nomina- 
tion of a candidate for governor at the fall election in 
1844, are, independent of the action of the legislature, 
so highly interesting and important, that we feel bound 
to describe some of those movements. 

It is however to be remarked, that there were two 
great and controlling subjects which occupied the at- 
tention of the legislature, and to which most other mat- 
ters that came under consideration were rendered sub- 



* Our correspondent evidently means to allegfe this as his opinion mere- 
ly, and not as a fact within his knowledge, and we think he inisjiidffed. 
Messrs. Alien and Bosworth, and especially the latter, were halauciug be- 
tween Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Seymour. They probably thought HofFinan's 
notions on the subject of e.xpenditures for internal improvement too sirin- 
g-ent, and Mr. Seymour's too liberal. 



392 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

servient ; these were the amendments to the constitution. 
and the financial and internal improvement policy of the 
state. We shall therefore mainly confine ourselves to 
the history of the legislation on these great questions ; 
but before we enter on that history, we will mention 
some occurrences not immediately connected with the 
action of any or either of the political parties, which 
happened this year. 

Mr. Foster is entitled to the honor of having, on 
the second day of the session, introduced resolutions 
in favor of a reduction of postage. They were as fol- 
lows : 

"Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That in the 
judgment of this legislature, the rates of postage as es- 
tabhshed by law, are excessive, and highly burdensome 
to a portion of the citizens of the United States : that 
the high postage now charged is calculated to prevent 
the use of the mails as a medium of communication ; to 
encourage the establishment and support of rival modes 
of conveying mail-matter, in defiance of the post-office 
laws ; and to prevent that free interchange of commu- 
nication by letter which is desirable to all. 

" That the franking privilege, as at present authorized, 
is unequal and unjust in its operation ; tending to load 
and encumber the mails with much useless matter ; is 
very frequently exercised in violation of the law of con- 
gress ; increases the expense of transporting the mails, 
and of the post-office department ; and that expense, in- 
stead of being defrayed by the whole people of the Union, 
in proportion to their ability, is made a charge upon the 
correspondence of the country, and an onerous tax upon 
the business ol" the people. 

" That, if the franking privilege is to be continued, we 



1844.] JUDGE cowen's death. 393 

perceive no good reason why its expenses should not be 
made a charge upon the general treasury, and be paid 
hv the whole people in proportion to their contributions 
to tlie other expenses of the general government, rather 
than to continue the present system, which levies the 
whole amount upon those whose business or other cor- 
respondence compels them to use the mails as their me- 
dium of communication." 

We copy these resolutions because they present, in 
substance, the plan ultimately adopted by congress, and 
also the reasons for the proposed reduction ; but one 
reason for such reduction is omitted. It is this. If the 
rates of postage are to be regarded as a tax, (and most 
assuredly they are such, and exacted with a view to 
raise a revenue sufficient to defray the expenses of the 
department,) such tax is palpably unequal. At the pres- 
ent reduced rates of postage, the states north of Mason 
and Dixon's line pay enough to reimburse the depart- 
ment for all its expenditures in those states, and leave a 
very large surplus, which is applied to pay for the 
transportation of the mail in the southern and south- 
western states. Thus the people of the north actually 
pay for the delivery of letters, &c., to the people of the 
south. Hence, if we rightly recollect, every member 
of congress from the slave states voted against the re- 
duction of postage. 

On the 8th of February, Mr. Foster was chosen 
by ballot, eighteen to seven, president pro tempore of 
the senate. This token of respect was justly clue 1<> 
him for his arduous and able labors in that body, and to 
his distinguished talents. 

On the 11th of February, after a short but severe ill- 
ness, Judge (^owen died in Albany. Among the many 



394 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

instances in the state of New York of self-made men, 
Judge Cowen was one of the most distinguished. He 
was a native of Rhode Island, and at an early age 
migrated to this state, entered the office of Judge 
Skinner, at Sandy Hill, with very little, if any classical 
education, and when admitted to the practice of law, 
located himself in the county of Saratoga. His perse- 
vering and incessant application to the appropriate stu- 
dies of his profession, soon gave him the reputation of a 
learned lawyer, and he was appointed reporter to the 
Supreme Court, organized under the constitution of 
1821. The eight volumes of his reports of the proceed- 
ings of that court, and his elementary writings, particu- 
larly the work entitled " Cowen's Justice," a book of 
humble pretensions, but really one of the most useful 
books to be found in the library of the lawyer, will 
transmit his fame to the latest posterity. In 1832 he 
was appointed circuit-judge of the fourth circuit, and 
subsequently he was appointed a judge of the Supreme 
Court. He discharged the duties of this office with 
distinguished ability, integrity, and independence, for 
sixteen vears, and until his death. Unaflected and mod- 
est in his deportment, and with great simplicity of man- 
ner, he was a man of immoveable firmness and great de- 
cision of character. So assiduous had been his application 
to his studies, and so retentive was his memory, that he 
was literally a walking law-library. The only official 
error he ever committed was his decision in the case of 
M'Leod ; and if that was an error, it was one of the 
heart, growing out of his sympathy for his friend, Mr. 
Papineau, and other Canadian patriots, — a sympathy 
which caused a bias in his honest and independent mind, 
of which he was not aware. His son, Sidney Cowen, 



1844.] GEN. fohter's death. 395 

Esquire, a young man of great promise, died about a 
year after his father. 

Both houses of the legislature, on being informed of 
the death of Judge Cowen, adjourned ; and at a joint 
meeting, adopted, on the motion of Gen. Clark, senator 
from the fourth district, who delivered an eloquent 
eulogy upon the character and merits of the deceased, 
resolutions suitable to the occasion. 

On the 20th of February the governor, by consent of 
the senate, appointed Samuel Beardsley, then a distin- 
guished member of congress, and whom we have men- 
tioned in the second volume of this work as an influen- 
tial member of the senate of this state, a judge of the 
Supreme Court, to supply the vacancy produced by the 
death of Judge Cowen. Mr. Beardsley is a clear-headed, 
sound, and able lawyer, and the appointment was well 
received by the bar and the public. 

On the 20th of March, Gen. Peter B. Porter died at 
Black Rock, in the 71st year of his age. Gen. Porter 
was a man of extraordinary native sagacity, and highly 
cultivated mind. He was one of the first canal commis- 
sioners. His colleagues were — De Witt Clinton, Gov- 
erneur Morris, and Stephen Van Rensselaer. He was 
also one of the earliest settlers in Western New York, 
and was a politician of great efficiency and influence. 
He held various important otHces, the last of which was 
secretary of war, under the presidency of John Quincy 
Adams. 

On the 4th of May, James V. L. Pruyn and James 
S. Wadsworth were appointed regents of the university, 
in place of Amasa J. Parker and John C. Spencer, both 
of whom resigned. 

John P. Cusuman, of Troy, who had been appointed 



396 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

the successor of Judge Vanderpool, circuit-judge of the 
third district, and iiad discharged the duties of that office 
in a manner creditable to himself and highly satisfactory 
to the public, having arrived nearly to the age of sixty 
years, resigned his office, and Amasa J. Parker^ of the 
county of Delaware, was appointed in his place. The 
appointment of Judge Parker was well received, as he 
was favorably known as a lawyer and as a member of 
congress, and had discharged his duties in a satisfactory 
manner ; but his peculiar fitness for discharging the du- 
ties of the office to which he was now appointed was not 
then known. He is now a judge of the third judicial 
district, elected by the people when and where there was 
a strong political majority against him. This single fact 
is better evidence of his merits than any written or 
printed commendations can be. 

Thomas Farrington was, on the 5th day of Feb- 
ruary, elected treasurer to the state for the ensuing 
year. 

We have, in a preceding chapter, noticed the death 
of Judge Thompson. This event left the great state of 
New York without a justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States. Soon after the meeting of congress 
in December, 1843, Mr. Tyler nominated John C. Spen- 
cer, then a member of his cabinet, for the successor of 
Judge Thompson, but the senate rejected his nomina- 
tion by a vote of twenty-six to twenty-one. The sena- 
tors from this state, Wright and Tallmadge, voted to 
confirm his nomination, and so in fact did nearly all the 
democratic senators. His rejection was caused by al- 
most a unanimous whig vote against him. Consider- 
ing the great legal learning, industry, capacity for intel- 
lectual labor, and the talents of Mr. Spencer, it may be 



1844.] WHIG U. S. SENATORS AND J. C. SPENCER. 39'? 

a subject of regret that he was not made a member of 
that high tind important court. The whigs, however, 
had much rea.<;on to be dissatisfied with his poHtical con- 
duct. Unl'ortunately for that party, the death of Gen. 
Harrison had cast the executive government on Mr. 
Tyler, who, ahhough nominated by a whig convention, 
of which he was himself a member, and professing whig 
principles, soon after the government was cast upon him, 
vetoed some of the most important and favorite meas- 
ures of the whig party, and distributed the national pat- 
ronage in a manner at war with the interests and wishes 
of an immense majority of the party. In consequence 
of this course, which was regarded as a breach of faith, 
the cabinet officers who were appointed by Gen. Harri- 
son, that is to say, Mr. Ewing, secretary of the treasu- 
ry, Mr. Bell, secretary of war, Mr. Granger, postmaster- 
general, and Mr. Crittenden, attorney-general, resigned 
their offices, leaving only Mr. Webster, the secretary 
of state, who elected to remain, under the pretence 
that he thought it his duty to continue in the de- 
partment of state until the controversy between Great 
Britain and the United States respecting the true boun- 
dary of the state of Maine could be adjusted and settled. 
In this state of things, Mr. Spencer accepted from Mr. 
Tyler the appointment of secretary of the war depart- 
ment. The whigs considered this acceptance as an 
abandonment of his party, and a commitment, on his 
part, to support Mr. Tyler in his course, which they 
considered not only injurious to the interest of the nation, 
but as personally treacherous. Every act of Mr. Ty- 
ler and his cabinet, in conferring the patronage of the 
government upon the political enemies of the whigs, 
which from time to time was done, increased the irrita 

34 



398 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

tion and resentment against him and his cabinet, and 
especially against Mr. Spencer. The whigs at that 
time had a majority in the senate, and to the state of 
feeling we have described we presume the rejection of 
Mr. Spencer's nomination may be charged. 

After the question respecting Mr. Spencer's appoint- 
ment was disposed of, the president nominated Silas 
Wright for the vacant judgeship ; but the moment he 
received notice of his nomination, he respectfully de- 
clined the appointment. His refusal was anticipated ; 
for though no direct notice of the president's intention 
to nominate him had been given, intimations of such in- 
tention had been made darkly to him, which he either 
did not understand, or refused to seem to understand. 
It was therefore inferred that he was not desirous of re- 
ceiving the appointment. Why did he not accept the 
office ? The office of judge of the Supreme Court of 
the United States is one of the most desirable offices 
within the gift of the nation. It is the duty of a judge 
to abstract himself from all party controversies and col- 
lisions. His office is one of great dignity. He is en- 
tirely independent of popular or court favor. He holds 
it for life. The salai'y is liberal, and it is a life-estate of 
four thousand dollars a year. Why, then, did Mr. 
Wright not accept such an office, tendered to him un- 
solicited ? Some of his reasons may have been the fol- 
lowing : 

He may have been attached to his seat in the senate. 
It was a theatre for which nature, education, and his 
natural temperament, had peculiarly fitted him. He no 
doubt was conscious that he was rendering his country 
service there ; if he changed that position for another, it 
might be doubtful whether he could in that other posi- 



1844.^ WRIGHT REFUSES OFFICE OF U. S. JUDGE. 399 

tion be as useful. At any rate, it was an experiment 
which he might deem it hazardous to make. 

Again : The presidential election was soon to take 
place, and he might have doubted whether his duty to 
his friends would permit him to withdraw from the po- 
litical field before the approaching contest was decided. 
Mr. Wright had been, and still was, the inflexible politi- 
cal opponent of Mr. Tyler. So were that portion of his 
constituents who had placed him in the senate. Was 
he at liberty to accept an office from an administration 
to which his constituents were all but unanimously op- 
posed ? 

But the consideration which must on ,this occasion 
have pressed with overwhelming force on such a mind 
as that of Silas Wright, was, that the question of the an- 
nexation of Texas was either then before the senate, or 
was about to come before it, and it was anticipated that 
the senate would be nearly equally divided in relation 
to that measure. Mr. Wright was opposed to annexa- 
tion. A war with Mexico, with all its dreadful conse- 
quences, and the liberty or slavery of unborn millions, 
might depend upon a single vote in the senate. Could 
Silas Wright abandon his post in the senate when one 
vote might produce results so momentous ? No, he 
could not — he did not. Mr. Wright, from a nice sense 
of honor and a patriotic devotion to the cause of his 
country and to human liberty, declined the proffered ap- 
pointment. He did remain in the senate, and he did 
vote against the annexation of Texas. 

After Mr. Wright's settled determination to refuse the 
appointment w as made known to the president, he nom- 
inated Chancellor Walworth. This was an excellent 
nomination. His long experience as a judge, his varied 



400 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. £l844. 

and extensive legal attainments, and his indefatigable 
industry, would, beyond question, have rendered him 
one of the most useful members of the Supreme Court. 
His nomination was very popular in this state ; but in 
the winter of 1844, the whigs held a majority in the 
senate of the United States, and at that time they confi- 
dently expected that the presidential election, which was 
to take place in the succeeding autumn, would result in 
the election of a whig president. When, therefore, the 
name of Chancellor Walworth was sent to the senate, 
the whig members generally were in favor of postponing 
action upon the nomination until after the election, in 
the hope that an appointment, politically more agreeable 
to them, might be made. There were, it is true, a few 
of the whigs whose personal regard for the chancellor 
overbalanced their political partialities, and who were 
desirous that his nomination should be confirmed ; but 
Mr. Berrien, from Georgia, effected an arrangement 
with some of the democratic western senators, by which 
they agreed, if their aid should become necessary, to 
vote in favor of the postponement of the question on 
Mr. Walworth's nomination. With the motives which 
induced the democratic western senators to make this ar- 
rangement with Mr. Berrien, we are unacquainted ; 
but the result was, that the president's message nomi- 
nrxtinir Mr. Walworth was laid on the table, and the 
session passed away without any action upon it by the 
senate. 

It has been reported, and it was believed by many, 
that some of the southern senators opposed the appoint- 
ment of the chancellor because, in giving an opinion in 
a case which came judicially before him, he had inci- 
dentally declared that slavery was a national and " lo- 



1844.] NOMINATION OF SAMUEL NELSON. 401 

cal" evil.* This report, however, was not well founded. 
When the chancellor's name was first mentioned as a 
candidate for the office, his expression in the case to 
which we have referred was mentioned as an objection 
against him by some of the southern gentlemen ; but the 
matter was soon after explained so as entirely to ob- 
viate and remove opposition on that ground from the 
minds even of those who were the most sensitive on the 
subject of slavery. The question, therefore, remained 
undecided until the winter of 1845, when all the judges 
of tlte Supreme Court of New York, and the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers, and all the members of the legisla- 
ture, without distinction of party, signed and forwarded 
a petition to the senate praying the confirmation of the 
chancellor's nomination. 

The election of Mr. Polk had removed the cause of 
the desire of the whigs to further postpone the appoint- 
ment of a successor to Judge Thompson ; and when the 
petition just mentioned reached Washington, the nomi- 
nation of Mr. Walworth would undoubtedly have been 
confirmed, had not Mr. Tyler, about that time, sent a 
message to the senate withdrawing the chancellor's 
name, and nominating Samuel Nelson, then chief-justice 
of this state, in his place. What produced this move- 
ment of the president is not known. He might not have 
been apprized of the change of opinion favorable to the 
chancellor which had lately occurred in the senate, and 
may have supposed that the name of Chief- Justice Nel- 
son would be more acceptable to a majority of that 
body ; or his action may have been caused by occur- 



* 14 Wendell, 507. Jack vs. Martin. 
34* 



402 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

rences which will be related when our narrative reaches 
the year 1845. 

It gives us pleasure to be able to state, that Judge 
Nelson had no voluntary agency in defeating the ap- 
pointment of the chancellor. He had himself written 
in favor of that appointment ; and we have been as- 
sured, from a most reliable source, that he acted in the 
transaction with perfect fidelity and good faith to his 
friend. 

The nomination of Judge Nelson was confirmed on 
the 13th of February, 1845. 



1844.1 GEN. chamberlain's resolution. 403 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Gen. Chamberlain's Resolutions — Mr. Dennison's Report on the Canal 
Policy and Bill — Assembly's Finance Bill amended in the Senate, and 
passes — The state of feeling in the Assembly and Senate between the 
Hunkers and Radicals — B. F. Hall's Bill for a Convention, and procecd- 
ino-s thereon — Bill for electing Canal Commissioners — Removal of Mr. 
Cassidy from the office of State Librarian — Policy of the Whigs — Cal- 
vin H. Hulbnrd — Democratic Legislative Caucus — Protest of the minor- 
ity — Whig Legislative Address. 

The subject of increasing the expenditures for internal 
improvements by a partial resumption of the public 
works, which had been suspended by the act of 1842, 
was, in the early part of the session, brought before the 
senate by a resolution which was offered by Gen. Cham- 
berlain, a resident of the county of Allegany. The 
resolution contained a preamble, which, after quoting 
the first sections of the two acts of the legislature passed 
in the year 1836, by which the canal commissioners 
were directed to construct and complete the Genesee 
Valley and Black River canals, states that — 

" Whereas, the people of the state, by their agents, 
the canal commissioners, have proceeded, under the 
several acts above specified, to the construction of the 
said canals, and have actually expended on the Gen- 
esee Valley Canal about three millions five hundred 
thousand dollars, and leaving only about one million of 
dollars to complete the same : also, on the Black River 
Canal, there has been expended about one million five 
hundred thousand dollars, leaving to be expended to 



404 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

complete the same, about three hundred thousand dol- 
lars, showing that the works are more than three-fourths 
completed, and but a small portion brought into use. 

" And whereas, vast amounts of property have changed 
hands, and large sums of money have been invested, in 
view of the completion of said canals, and many other 
business arrangements have been made with the same 
view, by a large and respectable portion of our fellow- 
citizens ; therefore, 

" Resolved, That in the judgment of this senate, the 
faith of the state is solemnly pledged to those people in- 
terested to carry forward those works to completion, as 
soon as the finances of the state shall be in a condition 
to do the same ; and if not now in such condition, good 
economy requires that the works in progress should be 
protected and preserved." 

This resolution was considered and discussed in the 
senate on the 19th day of February, when the mover 
made an elaborate speech in favor of its adoption. But 
as the spirit of the resolution evidently contemplated a 
departure from the policy of 1842, it does not seem to 
have gained much favor in the senate. Petitions for 
a resumption of the public works, and claiming that by 
the acts of 1836 the state was pledged to coynplete these 
canals, or pay damages to those who had made invest- 
ments in their vicinity on the faith of those supposed 
pledges ; and also a bill to provide for the preservation 
and protection of the works on the unfinished canals of 
the state, were referred to the canal committee, consist- 
ing of Messrs. Dennison, Varian, and Rhoades. 

On the 21st of March, Mr. Dennison made a report 
on the petitions and proposed bill, Messrs. Varian and 
Rhoades dissenting. 



1844.] MR. dennison's report. 405 

This report must have cost Mr. Dennison much time 
and labor. It is exceedingly well written, and evinces 
much talent and great energy of mind. As this report 
may be supposed to embody the views of the state 
officers and the radicals of the senate, we will endeavor 
to present a sketch of it. 

Mr. Dennison commences by giving a brief history 
of the canal policy, and showing that no indebtedness 
was incurred for the construction of the Erie and Cham- 
plain canals, without, at the same time, providing by law 
for the payment of the interest and repayment of the 
principal : he says — 

" We are to judge of the wisdom of the early friends of 
internal improvement in this state, by their actions and 
their works ; and these will bear the severest scrutiny 
which time and experience can apply. With those men, 
the work to be done, and the ways and means to do it, 
were never for a moment separated. A prominent and 
vital part of the original canal policy of this state, is the 
plan adopted for providing the ways and means to pay 
for the works when completed." 

Mr. Dennison believes with Col. Young the following 
to be a good general rule : that no work should be under- 
taken or recognised by the state that will not, when 
completed, sustain itself, pay the interest on its cost, and 
contribute something towards a sinking fund to redeem 
the principal. 

He then shows that the lateral canals, to wit, Oswe- 
go, Cayuga, and Seneca, Chemung, Crooked Lake, Che- 
nango, Genesee Valley, and Oneida Lake, do not, in the 
aggregate amount of lolls received from them, pay a sum 
equal to the amount paid by the state for their repairs ; 
that the repairs in 1843 cost 884,065.07, while the tolls 



406 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

amounted only to $80,146.60. In illustration of the 
views of the committee in relation to the construction 
of the lateral canals, the report takes an extended notice 
of the history and operations of the Chenango Canal. 
Engineers of the highest character, after a careful ex- 
amination, certified that the canal could be constructed 
for a milHon of dollars, and the amount of tolls to be 
received was estimated at from $110,843 to $166,844 an- 
nually. Experience had shown that this canal had cost 
'$2,417,000, and the amount of tolls received from it in 
1843 was $16,194.75. The annual loss to the state 
caused by the construction of the Chenango Canal, the 
committee estimate at $123,618.04. 

In proof that it was unwise for the state to engage in 
the enterprise of constructing the Chenango Canal, Mr. 
Dennison presents a supposed case, to which it seems 
difficult to furnish a satisfactory reply. The supposed 
case shows that a road might be constructed by the 
state, and all the produce transported by wagons, which 
was then conveyed on the canal, (the amount of tonnage 
transported on the canal during the year 1843 having 
been ascertained by the committee to be 17,177 tons,) 
at a less loss to the state than has been incurred in con- 
sequence of the construction of the canal. The illus- 
tration of this proposition to us is original, and certainly 
is ingenious, and we therefore copy it : 

" Ninety-seven miles (the length of the Chenango Ca- 
nal) of the best graded and gravelled road, could have 
been made through the Chenango valley at $4,000 per 
mile, and would cost at that rate $388,000. 

"All the tonnage on this canal, viz. the 17,177 tons, 
does not pass the whole distance : but say the whole of 
it is transported 60 miles, which is a liberal estimate. 



1844.] MR. dennison's report. 407 

"To hire 160 teamsters at $2 per day, for 300 work- 
ing days in tiie year, would require $96,000. They 
would have easy work in going the sixty miles and re- 
turning in four days ; and on such a road as the above 
sum would make, they could draw with convenience, 
with a single team, one and a half tons per load, return- 
ing empty. They could therefore draw to the Erie 
Canal, 75 loads each per year, and have the earnings of 
the returning teams. The total tonnage which they could 
draw is 18,000 tons. 

" The first cost of constructing this canal is. $2,417,000 

" To construct the above road would cost. . $388,000 
" An investment at five per cent, to produce 
$96,000 per year, to pay the teamsters, 
would be 1,920,000 

Total $2,308,000 

" Leaving as a sinking fund, or to extend, 

repair, and improve the road $109,000 

" Thus it is seen, it would have been cheaper for the 
state to have made a road and hired teamsters at expen- 
sive rates to ti-ansport the produce of that country in 
ordinary wagons ; and the community would have had 
the free use of the road for common purposes." 

The report then proceeds to give a history of legisla- 
tion as respects the construction of the Black River 
Canal, and it reviews the proceedings in relation to the 
Genesee Valley Canal ; and as in the case of the Che- 
nango Canal, it shows that in each of these canals the 
state would have been a gainer had it constructed a road 
at an expense of $4,000 per mile, and paid teamsters at 
the rate of two dollars per day for transporting, free of ex- 



408 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

pense to the Erie Canal, all the produce which for many 
years will be transported on these canals when comple- 
ted. After taking this view of the subject, Mr. Dennison 
remarks, that " a distinguished senator from the fourth 
district (Col. Young) many years ago prophesied in his 
place that the time would come when those legislators 
who were pressing the construction of these and kindred 
works, would deny before heaven and earth their agency 
in fastening them upon the state. The debates in the 
legislature and among the people for the last few years, 
have fulfilled this prophecy. Each political party liter- 
ally hastens to escape from them, like Lot of old from 
the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each brings 
a railing accusation, and charges their construction upon 
the other. Fortunate would it be for the people, if the 
debt and taxation under which they groan could be fas- 
tened where the sin belongs — upon the speculators and 
demagogues." 

There can be no doubt that the members of the legis- 
lature were induced to undertake these works in conse- 
quence of the erroneous estimates of their expense made 
by the engineers. The highest estimate of the expense 
of constructing the Chenango Canal w^as $1,000,000 — it 
actually cost $2,417,000. The first estimate of the cost 
of the Black River Canal was $487,739.25, the next was 
$602,544, and the last, upon which the legislature acted 
when they undertook the work, was $1,019,221.72. This 
estimate was made by Mr. Jervis ; but. after the work 
was cojnmevced, Mr. P. R. Root calculated the expense 
at $2,431,099.29. There has been already expended 
on this canal $2,067,285.05, and the cost of its comple- 
tion is stated at not less than $737,817.67, making a total 
of $2,805,102.72. The highest estimate of the Genesee 



1844.] MR. dennison's report. 409 

"^'^allev Canal, and that on which the work was under- 
taken by the legislature, was $1,774,372.12 ; after money 
had been expended, in pursuance of the law, for the con- 
struction of this canal, Mr. Mills, the same engineer on 
whose estimate the legislature acted, reported the ex- 
pense of the work at $4,900,122.44. There had, when 
this report was made, been expended $3,553,000, and 
Mr. Dennison calculates the expense of finishing this 
canal at $2,000,000. The very great disparity between 
the estimated and actual expense, forces upon the mind 
the painful conclusion that some of these engineers, act- 
ing as they did under their responsibility as state agents, 
were either grossly and culpably ignorant or negligent, 
or that they were corrupt. Well might Mr. Dennison 
say, in another part of his report, in answer to the claim 
of the applicants that the faith of the state was pledged 
for the completion of these works, that if such pledge 
had been given it was given in consequence of false and 
fraudulent representations. 

Mr. Dennison also presents a rapid and perhaps 
rather too sombre view of the financial concerns of the 
state, and arrives at the conclusion that the public works 
cannot be resumed without laying an additional direct 
tax, and he expresses the same opinion as respects fur- 
ther expenditures in enlarging the Erie Canal ; the re- 
sult at which he finally arrives, is expressed in the fol- 
lowing propositions and resolution : 

" 1. The tolls of the canals and revenue of the state, 
by the act of March 29th, 1842, entitled ' An act \o pro- 
vide for paying the debt and preserving the credit of the 
state,' are pledged to the public creditors, and that law, 
with all its guaranties and pledges, must be rigidly ob- 
served until our debt be paid. 

35 



410 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

"2. The public works cannot be resumed without a 
resort to additional direct taxation, to which the people 
will not and ought not to submit. 

" 3. The state having entered upon the construction 
of the unfinished canals, without a full knowledge of 
their cost and demerits having been communicated to 
the people, the legislature ought not to appropriate any 
money to be expended in their construction, until the 
j)eople, who have to foot the bills, in the exercise of 
their sovereign power command it to be done ; and the 
committee will not recommend a direct tax to preserve 
them. 

"4. The interests of the people require no legislation 
on the subjects referred at this time ; and therefore the 
committee respectfully submit the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That the committee be discharged from 
the further consideration of the bill and petitions." 

About one month after this report was made in the 
senate, [23d of April,] Mr. Seymour, from the committee 
on canals in the assembly, made a report on that part of 
the governor's message which related to canals. That 
committee consisted of Messrs. Seymour, M. L. Harris, 
Linn, S. Cole, and Dickinson. This report was drawn by 
Mr. Seymour, and occupies seventy-one large octavo 
pages. We do not hesitate to pronounce it one of the ablest 
and best- written documents ever presented to a legislative 
body. We should do injustice to the author of it were 
we to pretend to give a skeleton of it. From the able 
and masterly review that it takes of our system of in- 
ternal improvements, the great mass of well-arranged 
facts it contains, its lucid, candid, liberal, and able rea- 
soning, and the brief, but intelligent picture it presents 
of the finances of the state, it will amply reward any 



1844.J MR. Seymour's report. 411 

person for the time which the perusal of it would oc- 
cupy. It ought to be read by every statesman and le- 
gislator, who desires to be acquainted with the situation 
of the public works and the financial condition of the 
state in the year 1844. It will be found in Vol. VII. of 
the assembly documents of that year, No. 177. 

We will merely remark, that the report unequivocally 
takes ground in favor of sustaining and carrying out all 
the pledges of the act of 1842 ; that it shows there will 
be a surplus of revenue after redeeming those pledges ; 
that it admits the necessity of suspending the enlarge- 
ment of the Erie Canal, but recommends the employ- 
ment of the surplus revenue in enlarging the locks upon 
it, in preserving the unfinished works, and in gradually 
progressing with the construction of the Black River 
and Genesee Valley canals ; and where unfinished parts 
of the enlarged canal can be completed, at an expense 
not greater than that of repairs to contiguous parts of 
the old canal, as in the case of the Schoharie Creek 
aqueduct, the report recommends that such parts should 
be completed. The report condemns and repudiates 
the pre-existing policy of creating additional debts for 
the purpose of constructing new canals or enlarging the 
Erie Canal, and it commends the policy recommended 
by Mr. Flagg and the canal board in 1835, that only the 
surplus revenue of the canals should be used for those 
purposes.* The following are the concluding paragraphs 
of the report : 

" The present period is eminently favorable for the 
establishment of a system of improvements which shall 

* It is worthy of remark, that the principles advocated in this report are 
substantially those adopted by the last constitutional convention, and are 
now a part of the organic law of the state. 



412 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

not conflict with the rapid payment of our great liabili- 
ties. But to accomplish this, the subject must be ap- 
proached and treated with the fairness and candor its 
importance demands. If, stimulated by success, we have, 
in a period of excitement and delusion, exceeded the 
bounds of prudence or discretion, we have but fallen 
into the errors which ever attend upon the progress of 
human enterprises. The errors we have committed are 
not without their utility or profitable teachings. The 
corruptionsof extravagance, and the bitter consequences 
of indebtedness, have produced their own correctives, 
and public opinion, admonished by the past, has returned 
to its accustomed and healthful channels, from which it 
will not be readily diverted. There is no portion of our 
citizens who desire to increase our state indebtedness, 
or to do aught to the detriment of our common interests, 
when they are shown the evils that inevitably follow in 
the train of borrowing large sums of money, to be re- 
paid perhaps in periods of pecuniary distress and em- 
barrassment. But just views of political economy are 
not to be disseminated by harsh denunciations, which 
create the suspicion that there is more of hostility to 
the interests of those assailed, than an honest desire 
to protect the treasury of the state. Neither is it 
true, on the other hand, that any considerable number 
of our citizens are opposed to the extension of our 
canals when it can be effected by the aid of surplus rev- 
enues. 

" The issue, which has been made between improve- 
ments on the one liand and finances on the other, is a 
false and unnatural one. And if the committee have 
succeeded in establishing the truth of their positions, we 
may and should have in this state a liberal system of in- 



1844.] MR. Seymour's canal bill. 413 

ternal improvements, furnishing the elements of and 
predicated upon a sound financial policy." 

With this report Mr. Seymour introduced a bill, a 
summary of which we copy from the Albany Argus : 

" Sec. 1. Authorizes the canal board to direct the ca- 
nal commissioners to cause to be made such repairs and 
improvements on unfinished work on the enlargement 
of the Erie Canal, as may be necessary to bring the same 
into use, in cases where said board shall decide that it 
is better economy, or more for the interest of the state, 
to bring into use such new work, than it is to repair and 
continue in use the old work for which it is to be substi- 
tuted, and where the contractor shall have been settled 
with for any claim which he may have on account of 
said work. 

"§2. Before the canal board shall direct any such re- 
pairs or improvements as are contemplated in the first 
section, they shall have, from the canal commissioners, 
estimates of the probable expense to be incurred in ma- 
king the same, and also a particular statement of the 
condition of the old work, for which said new work is to 
be substituted. 

" § 3. Authorizes the canal board to direct the com- 
missioners to construct and maintain any bridges over 
the Erie Canal which according to law they might con- 
struct or maintain, but for the provisions of chap. 114, 
of the laws of 1842. 

" § 4. Authorizes the canal commissioners to use any 
materials that have been paid for or estimated to con- 
tractors on the enlargement of the Erie Canal, on any 
work that may be done under this act, or for any repairs 
on the Erie Canal. 

" § 5. Requires the commissioners, under the direction 

35* 



414 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

of the canal board, to protect or secure from injury, in 
the manner directed by the board, the pubhc works on 
the enhirgement of the Erie Canal, or on any of the un- 
finished lateral canals, that have been completed and not 
brought into use, or that have been commenced and not 
completed, or the materials that have been procured and 
paid for or estimated to contractors for such works ; and 
to sell any materials that have been paid for or estimated 
to contractors for any work on said enlargement or said 
lateral canals. 

" § 6. The expenses of securing from injury any fin- 
ished or unfinished work, under the fifth section, to be 
paid from the proceeds of the sale of any materials un- 
der that section, or from the revenues of the Erie Canal, 
to an amount not exceeding the value of any materials 
used for any repairs on the Erie Canal ; the deficiency, 
if any, to be paid from any surplus of canal revenue, 
after complying with the pledges of the act of 1842. 

"§ 7. The commissioners to account to the canal board 
for all materials used or disposed of under this act. 

" § 8. Directs the canal commissioners to finish the 
aqueduct over the Schoharie creek, and the new work 
necessary to bring it into use for canal navigation ; also 
to complete and bring into use the new line of the Erie 
Canal extending from a point ten chains east of the aque- 
duct aci'oss the Nine Mile Creek to the village of Jordan. 

" § 9. The commissioners to make such repairs and 
improvements as may be directed by the canal board 
under this act, in the same manner that they are required 
to make repairs and improvements on any completed 
canal, by chap. 9, title 9, art. 2, of the first part of the 
Revised Statutes. 
. "§ 10. Whenever the canal board shall decide that 



1844.] DENNisoN &. Seymour's reports compared. 41."? 

any work done or improvement made on the Erie Canal 
under this act is a just repair of said canal, or that the 
same is necessary for the security, or for the convenient 
use of said canal, or for the interest of the public cred- 
itors of this state, or that it will be the best economy 
in a period of twenty-two years to make any improve- 
ment contemplated by this act, then the expense of ma- 
king any such improvement shall be paid from the reve- 
nues of said canal as a repair ; otherwise the same shall 
be paid from any surplus revenues of the canals, after 
complying with the pledges and guarantees of chap. 114, 
of the laws of 1842." 

The report of Mr. Seymour has been considered as 
antagonistical to that of Mr. Dennison, and hence it may 
be regarded as inconsistent to commend both. But upon 
a careful examination, it will be perceived that there is 
no material difference in the principles advocated by 
each, except that Mr. Seymour's indicates an opinion, 
that whenever the revenue arising from the canals shall 
yield a surplus over and above a sum sufficient to re- 
deem the pledges contained in the act of 1842, such 
surplus should be applied to defraying the expenses of 
enlarging the Erie and completing the construction of 
the Black River and Genesee Valley canals. Mr. Den- 
nison, on the contrary, was of the opinion that that sur- 
plus, if there should be any, ought to be applied to the 
extinguishment of the public debt. The authors of both 
reports were for rigidly adhering to the policy marked 
out by the act of 1842 ; both were for the establishment 
of a sinking fund, which, within a given period, would 
ensure the payment of the debt of the state ; and both 
were opposed to the further prosecution of the public 
works, if such prosecution would add to the public debt, 



416 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

or in any manner check the increase of the sinking fund. 
Mr. Dennison viewed with jealousy and suspicion the 
sanjiuine calculations of the more zealous friends of in- 
ternal improvements, in respect to the amount of income 
which in future might be expected from the canals, while 
Mr. Seymour cherished a hope that those calculations 
would prove correct. Mr. Dennison exhibits truthfully 
and in bold relief the erroneous and false representa- 
tions, on the faith of which some of the public works 
were undertaken, and Mr. Seymour cheers us with the 
prospect of the rich treasures, which, it may reasonably 
be anticipated, will be realized from the navigation of 
our magnificent artificial rivers. The feelings with 
which these distinguished gentlemen drew their respect- 
ive reports, undoubtedly gave a different coloring to the 
sentiments they expressed, but both were highly enlight- 
ened and talented men, and both, as we believe, had 
solely in view, and were honestly seeking to promote 
and sustain measures which, in their judgment, were 
best calculated to ensure the permanent prosperity and 
glory of the state. 

Immediately after the reading of Mr. Seymour's re- 
port, Mr. HoflTman rose, and after expressing his appro- 
bation of many parts of it, and complimenting the author 
for the ability it displayed, stated several objections to 
it ; but his objections were rather to its details than to 
the principles which it advocated. He and those acting 
with him expressed a serious apprehension that the bill 
reported by the committee was intended for the com- 
mencement of a series of measures at war with the pol- 
icy of the act of '42, and which eventually would over- 
throw that policy. The bill, however, finally passed 
both houses, substantially as reported by the committee, 



1844.] ME. barlow's speech i\ the senate. 417 

excepting the addition of a clause restricting the annual 
expenditures under it to $150,000. We observe that 
Messrs. Allen and Bosworth voted against this bill ; the 
whigs generally voted for it. It appears that for some 
cause Mr. Hoffman did not vote. Sixty-seven members 
voted in the affirmative and thirty-eight in the negative. 

In the senate considerable opposition was made, and 
Mr. Strong, in an eloquent speech, denounced the bill as 
a palpable departure from the policy contemplated by 
the act of '42. 

Mr. Barlow^ who generally acted with the radicals, 
made a very sensible speech on the affirmative side of 
the question. " We all claimed," he said, ■' to be in favor 
of the policy of the law of 1842 ; but we varied in opinion 
whether this law clashes with that policy. He believed 
it did not ; for the policy of that law allowed w^orks to 
be preserved, and also to be finished, when it would be 
better economy than to keep the old canal in repair. 
This bill only provides f(fi- the same. 

" There is," said Mr. B., " a very good saying of Poor 
Richard, that 'a stitch in time saves nine.' This say- 
ing is good sense in practical life ; and I believe that it 
is wise, and may apply as well to a people collectively,. 
as to an individual. I believe that good economy re- 
quires the expenditure of a reasonable sum ; and if the 
expenditure shall be made within the good saying of 
Poor Richard, the people will approve of it ; for I be- 
lieve their judgment is deliberate and economical. It 
was not pretended, as far as Mr. B. had heard, by any 
one, that the law of 1842 contemplated an utter aban- 
donment of the unfinished works. Then, it was exceed- 
ingly difficult to reconcile the neglect of an appropriation 
to preserve them w ith a regard to economy. It will re- 



418 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOHK. [1844. 

quire but a small sum comparatively to finish the Scho- 
harie aqueduct and Jordan level, and secure their per- 
manency. How can any one have a doubt as to what 
Poor Richard would say in such a case, when he saw 
the large amount of improvements now going to dilapi- 
dation and waste ? Mr. B. was confident the good 
judgment of the people would approve of preserving 
them." 

The vote on the final passage of the bill in the senate 
was 17 to 13 — all the whigs, except Mr. Piatt, voting in 
favor of it. 

Another bill, which passed the assembly about the 
same time when Mr. Seymour's bill passed, and which 
was entitled, " An act supplementary to the act entitled, 
An act to provide for the payment of the debt and pre- 
serving the credit of the state," which was reported by 
the committee of ways and means, and better known by 
the name of the " Finance Bill," excited much discus- 
sion in the assembly. It will* be recollected that the 
committee of ways and means, or finance, consisted of 
Messrs. Hoffman, Bosworth, L. Lee, Burt, and Davis. 
The bill as reported was widely different from what Mr. 
Hoffman and Mr. Lee desired it should be. It provi- 
ded for a loan of i$ 1,200,000, to be applied to the pay- 
ment of land damages on the several canals, of arrear- 
ages to contractors, &c. 

This bill, together with a proposed amendment to the 
constitution, restricting the power of the legislature as 
to expenditures for internal improvements, produced an 
earnest and protracted debate, and a review of the 
entire history of the canals and the financial system. 
Great talents as well as great zeal were displayed on 
both sides. We have not room to give even a sketch 



1844.] FINANCE BILL IN THE SENATE. 419 

of these debates. The difference between Mr. Hoff- 
man and his friends, and Mr. Seymour, and those acting 
with him, seemed in substance to be with respect to the 
true construction of the act of 1842. Mr. Hoffman 
contended that, according to the spirit of that act, noth- 
ing ought to be expended other than for necessary re- 
pairs until the entire debt should be paid. Mr. Sey- 
mour, on the contrary, though he explicitly took ground 
in favor of the law of 1842, and urged that all its guar- 
antees and pledges should be rigidly observed, contended 
that any surplus, beyond the amount pledged, should be 
applied to the extension and preservation of the public 
works. 

It is not surprising that the two parties, in the heat of 
debate, should have charged each other with objects and 
views which neither party entertained. This was in 
fact the case ; for it was more than insinuated by the 
radical?, that the hunkers intended to evade the act of 
1842, and to gradually introduce a system of measures 
which, instead of providing for the extinguishment, 
would increase the public debt. On the other hand, the 
hunkers charged the radicals with hostility to the canals, 
and with a desire, through mere pique and prejudice, to 
sacrifice some fifteen or twenty millions of money rather 
than violate their abstract doctrines of what should have 
been the policy of the state before these expenditures 
were incurred. 

The finance bill, as reported by Mr. Bosworth, in the 
end passed the assembly by a vote of 02 to 29. 

It did not reach the senate until Friday evening, the 
3d of May, which was only four days before the two 
houses had agreed to adjourn, and one of those days was 
Sunday. 



420 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

On Monday, the 6th of May, Mr. Bockee, chairman 
of the finance committee, called for the consideration of 
the bill from the assembly. A bill professing to have 
the same object in view had been reported to the senate, 
but action on it had been deferred until the assembly's 
bill should reach the senate, so that the senators might 
elect between the two bills. 

Mr. Bockee moved to strike out, in effect, the whole 
bill from the assembly, and insert that of the senate as a 
substitute. 

The senate bill struck out $1,200,000, and inserted in 
lieu thereof, $800,000, which was raised, on motion of 
Mr. Faulkner, to 8900,000 ; and it provided for a direct 
tax of one-tenth of a mill on a dollar to secure the pay- 
ment of the interest and the repayment of the principal 
of the sum so to be borrowed. Mr. Bockee's substitute 
w^as adopted in the senate, and in this form the bill 
passed, there being only four votes, Messrs. Backus, 
Hard, Piatt, and Works, in the negative. 

Mr. Bockee, although regarded as a hunker during 
this and the succeeding session, held the balance be- 
tween the two sections of the democratic party ; and 
this position placed him in the station, as respected those 
sections, of an umpire between them. 

The debates in the assembly were courteous, which 
was, perhaps, in part owing to the strict parliamentary 
decorum which Mr. Hoffman always observed towards 
opponents as well as friends, the good-nature of Mr. 
Sampson, and the constitutional modesty, liberality, and 
kind feeling of jMr. Seymour. 

In the senate there was much more bitterness and ir- 
ritability. That body contained a number of individ- 
uals remarkable for acerbity of temper. As they held 



1844.] AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 421 

their seats for a much longer thne than the members of 
the other house, they became more deeply imbued with 
the feelings which existed at Albany ; and these hostile 
feelings were from time to time kept alive and called 
into action, not only by a seeming difference of opinion 
in respect to measures, but by controversies about the 
nominations to office made by the governor. 

Several amendments to the constitution were pro- 
posed and adopted by the joint resolution of both houses ; 
the first of which was to make the act of 1842 a part of 
the constitution, and providing that the revenue therein 
mentioned should be applied to the purposes specified, in- 
cluding the repayment to the United States of the de- 
posite fund. This latter provision seems to us an 
attempt to be "righteous overmuch ;" for every man of 
common sense knew then, as he does now, that a ma- 
jority of congress will never be obtained which will call 
on the states to refund that money. Amendments were 
also proposed to make the substance of Mr. Loomis's 
resolution a portion of the organic law, — to provide for 
the appointment of three associate chancellors, and to 
add to the Supreme Court two justices. 

In the discussions that occurred when these amend- 
ments were under consideration, so much difference of 
opinion was evinced on the question, whether the reme- 
dies proposed by the amendments for existing defects 
were the best that could be devised, that little hope was 
entertained that they would be approved by two-thirds 
of the members who might be elected to the next legis- 
lature. In proof of this, without referring to the votes 
of individual members, it is only necessary to state, that 
the two houses disagreed as to what amendments should 
be adopted ; and on the question whether the senate 

36 



422 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

should insist on their amendments, or propose a confer- 
ence, that body was equally divided, and a conference 
was directed by the casting vote of the lieutenant- 
governor. 

During the summer of 1843, some portion of the po- 
litical press of the state had taken ground in favor of a 
convention to revise the constitution, and, as we have 
already related, a public meeting was held at Albany in 
November of that year, at which Mr. Hoffman made a 
speech, and resolutions were adopted recommending a • 
convention, and several radical changes in our organic 
law. 

The constitution of 1777 contained no provision for 
future amendments. When, therefore, under that con- 
stitution, changes in the constitutional law, from an al- 
teration of the condition of society, or from a great 
change in public opinion, became necessary, a conven- 
tion was indispensable. It was a measure of absolute 
necessity/. But so doubtful were the legislature of 1821 
of their power to act in the premises, that they did not 
venture to pass a law commanding a convention ; they 
merely enacted that it be " recommended'' to the people 
to elect delegates to meet in convention to propose 
amendments to the constitution. The constitution of 
1821 did provide for its own amendment by authorizing 
the legislature, under certain restrictions, to propose 
amendments, which, when approved of by a majority of 
the people, should become a part of that constitution. 
Hence it was supposed that no future convention would 
ever be called. Judge Bacon, an eminent statesman 
who was a member from Oneida county, on giving a 
final vote in favor of the constitution, declared, that in 
his judgment, there were many defects in the instru- 



1844.] POWER TO CALL A CONVENTION. 423 

ment, and some provisions which were an improvement 
of the old system ; but he thought the defects overbal- 
anced the improvements ; that nevertheless, the clause 
in the constitution which provided for its own amend- 
ment by the legislature and people without the interven- 
tion of a convention, and thereby dispensing with all 
future conventions, was, in his opinion, so highly valua- 
ble, that it produced in his mind a balance in favor of 
the instrument before them, and he therefore should vote 
for its adoption.* 

A moment's reflection must convince any reasonable 
man that a law providing for a convention to revise and 
amend the constitution of 1821, was a proceeding be- 
yond the pale of that constitution. Was it not a viola- 
tion of it ? That instrument had instructed the legisla- 
ture how they should proceed to amend it. If they 
chose to proceed in a mani.er different from their instruc- 
tions, it would seem that they would not only exceed their 
powers, but would act contrary to the express directions 
of the charter under which they were sitting as a legis- 
lature. If this reasoning be correct, then those gentle- 
men who passed a bill for a convention, acted in their 
individual and not in their official capacity, and the act 
itself was a mere recommendation of one hundred and 
sixty intelligent gentlemen from different parts of the 
state assembled at the capitol in Albany. But although 
an act to call a convention to alter the organic law was 
unconstitutional, yet the right o{ revolution remained in 
the people. And it seems to us that the whole proceed- 
ings in getting up the late convention, must be sustained 
by that right alone. A revolution can only be justified 

» 2 Political History, pp. 82, 83. 



424 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YOKK. [l844. 

as a measure of necessity. Hence those in favor of a 
convention in 1844 and 1845, were bound to prove the 
truth of two propositions : 

1. That amendments to the constitution were abso- 
lutely indispensable and necessary. 

2. That those amendments could not with reasonable 
probability be made in the way provided by the consti- 
tution of 1821. 

It by no means follows that because the constitution 
of 1846 was founded on the right of revolution, that it is 
not now binding on the people ; for that revolutionary 
measure has been confirmed by the fiat of the people, 
declared in the most legitimate way, namely, at the polls 
of the election. It is equally as binding as the Declar- 
ation of Independence, which severed the United States 
from the British empire, to which they were before at- 
tached by the most solemn forms of law. 

After much discussion in the assembly, during the ses- 
sion of 1844, Mr. Hall, a whig member from the county 
of Cayuga, whom we have mentioned in a preceding 
chapter, introduced a bill submitting to the people the 
question whether a convention should be called to revise 
and amend the constitution. This bill was referred to 
the select committee on constitutional amendments, con- 
sisting of Messrs. Bosworth, Hofl^man, Sey4Tiour, Samp- 
son, and Stevens, four democrats and one whig. 

Mr. Hall about a month before he brought in this bill 
had offered the following as a joint resolution : 

" Resolved, That the following amendment be proposed 
to the constitution, that it be referred to the legislature 
next to be chosen, and published as i-equired by the eighth 
article : ' For the purpose of the election of members to 
the assembly, the state shall be divided by the legisla- 



1844.] MR. hall's convention bill. 425 

ture next in session after the adoption of this article, 
into one hundred and twenty-eight districts of contigu- 
ous territory, but no district to be composed of portions 
of more than one county.' " 

This resolution was referred to Mr. Bosworth's com- 
mittee, who, after some time taken for consideration, 
declined to report it to the house. This refusal induced 
Mr. Hall and his friends to believe that a majority of 
the committee and the administration party in the house 
were opposed to every substantial reform, and he there- 
upon drew and introduced the bill to which we have al- 
luded. Mr. Hall may therefore fairly be considered as 
the pioneer of the whig party in the enterprise of a con- 
stitutional reform through the agency of a convention. 

This bill was modelled after the convention bill of 
1821, and contained substantially the same provisions as 
that introduced the following year by Mr. Grain of Her- 
kimer. It submitted the question, whether a convention 
should be held, to the people, and directed, in case a ma- 
jority was found to have voted for a convention, that an 
election of delegates should be had, and a convention 
held for revising the constitution, and that the instrument 
when revised should be submitted to the people for their 
approval. " This movement," says a respectable whig 
correspondent, who was then a member of the assem- 
bly, " shadowed forth the purpose of the whig party in 
respect to constitutional reform ; and this the more prom- 
inently when it came to be understood that Mr. Stevens 
of Albany, a member of the committee, concurred with 
Mr. Hall in the propriety of the measure. The com- 
mittee nevertheless declined to report the bill to the 
house, notwithstanding the urgent solicitations of Hoff- 
man and Stevens, the minority of the committee." 

36* 



426 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

When the refusal of the responsible majority of that 
committee became known to Mr. Hall, a caucus of the 
whis members of the senate and assembly was held at 
the Eagle Tavern in Albany, for the purpose of consid- 
erincr the propriety of making a further demonstration 
on the subject of reform. What occurred at that meet- 
ing may be inferred from the resolution introduced by 
Mr. Hall the next day, [March 15th,] to instruct the 
committee to report, with or without amendment, the 
bill introduced by him in relation to a convention to re- 
vise the constitution. But the motion was strenuously 
opposed by the majority, and by their vote laid upon the 
table, where it remained until the 2d day of April follow- 
ing, when it was taken up for consideration hnd dis- 
cussion. In the discussion, which was somewhat vehe- 
ment, Messrs. Hoffman, Stevens, Hall, Allen, Seymour, 
and Bosworth participated. The three former advoca- 
ted, and the three latter opposed its passage. The only 
speech which was fully reported was delivered by Mr. 
Hall. It was published in the Evening Journal, and is 
believed to be the first published legislative speech ex- 
tant in favor of the convention project. " In this discus- 
sion, Messrs. Seymour and Allen," says our whig corre- 
spondent, " averred that it was a whig project to disor- 
ganize the democratic party in this state, and to which 
they feared it was the intention of a branch of their own 
party to ally itself These speeches induced many mem- 
bers to withdraw from the house, and thereby avoid a 
vote upon the question. At the conclusion of the de- 
bate but ninety-four members were in their seats to vote 
upon the subject. Mr. Gorham moved to lay the reso- 
lutions on the table, upon which a test vote of the re- 
maining members was given — ayes 56, noes 38 ; all 



1844.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 427 

the whigs voting in the negative except the member 
from Allegany, (who was not in favor of a convention.) 
Had the remaining 34 members been in the house, the 
result would have been against laying on the table, and 
in favor of the passage of the resolution, as enough of 
them were so committed had they voted at all." This 
vote, however, was regarded as decisive of the fate of 
the convention bill for that session, and relieved the 
committee, who, in expectation of its passage, had ac- 
tually prepared a written report in favor of the bill, to 
be used in the event of the passage of the resolution. 

Subsequently Mr. L. Lee, a radical democrat from 
the county of Orange, introduced a resolution directing 
the select committee to report a bill recommending a 
convention. This gave rise to an animated debate, and 
led to a discussion of the question of its consideration, 
which showed the state of parties in the house, as re- 
spected that measure. On this occasion, Messrs. Hoff- 
man, Bosworth, and others, among the democrats, and 
Mr. Stevens, the whig leader, declared themselves for a 
convention. The vote in favor of considering Mr. Lee's 
resolution stood 58 to 46. The 58 votes were given 
by 31 democrats and 27 whigs, and the 46 votes against 
the consideration were given by 43 democrats and three 
whigs. This vote strongly indicated a majority in favor 
of a convention. The question involved in the resolu- 
tion was earnestly discussed, but the session finally pass- 
ed away without any effectual action upon it.* 

* Our whig correBpondent, from whom we have quoted, in a letter now 
before us, states " that Gov. Seward was from the first of the opinion, that 
although the constitution pointed out a way in which it could he amended, 
a great public and paramount necessity justified the call for a convention. 
He held, as Gov. Clinton did, with respect to the convention of 1821, that 



428 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

On the 3d day of May a bill passed the senate, which 
appears to have been introduced by Gen. Clark, abolish- 
ing the office of non-acting canal commissioner, and pro- 
vidint; that there should be but four commissioners, who 
should be elected at a general election by the people. 



necessity justified a convention whenever the existing constitution proved 
insufficient for its own amendment. He deemed the judiciary system, as 
establislied by the constitution of 1821, the most defective part of that in- 
strument. He also was dissatisfied with the restrictions it contained on 
the elective franchise. He was consulted, and fully concurred in the pol- 
icy of introducing a convention bill into the legislature of 1844." Our 
correspondent, in relation to the course pursued by the whig editors on the 
convention question, further states that " Mr. George Dawson, at present 
an associate editor of the Evening Journal, who in 1844 conducted the 
Rochester Democrat, was the first whig editor who advocated a conven- 
tion to revise the constitution. When Mr. Hall introduced his convention 
bill into the legislature, Mr. Dawson was at Albany, where he prepared 
a strong article approving of Mr. Hall's course, and urged the whigs of 
Western New York to support the bill. This was in February, 1844. 

"The next whig editor who took ground in favor of the convention 
movement was Henry Oliphant, the editor of the Auburn Daily Adverti- 
ser, who wrote and published several excellent articles in favor of Mr. 
Hall's bill, and of constitutional reform. Mr. Greeley, of the New York 
Tribune, soon after announced himself in favor of a convention, and also 
declared in favor of Mr. Hall's bill. 

" Mr. Thurlow Weed, notwithstanding his great respect for the opinions 
of Mr. .Seward, thought it impolitic, on the eve of an important election, 
to commit himself and his paper in favor of a convention. Michael HofT- 
man was a mcmberof the assembly in 1844. He had since 1842 favored 
a convention as a matter of necessity, but in consequence of ill health took 
no very active part on the subject during the session, except uniformly to 
vote with the friends of constitutional rel'orm by means of a convention." 

We have every reason to believe that the statement of our correspondent 
is substantially correct ; and we will add, that the xVlbany Atlas, from the 
moment the convention project was first agitated until the que.stion in re- 
lation to it was decided, supported the measure with its usual zeal and 
vigor. In this course, so far as wo can recollect, it was followed and sus- 
tained by most and perhaps all the radical newspapers published in the 
state. 



1844.] STATE LIBRABIAN. 429 

It will be recollected that the canal commissioners were 
formerly appointed by the legislature. The bill was 
sent to the assembly, and on the 4th of May (the next 
day) it was referred to the canal committee. Mr. Linn 
moved that the committee should be instructed forthwith 
to report the bill. Mr. Seymour opposed this unusual 
haste in passing through so important a bill, which he 
said was introduced in the senate the day before. The 
bill, however, for some reason, seems to have been a 
favorite of the house, for Mr. Linn's motion prevailed 
by a large majority, and it passed that evening. 

One other transaction took place which excited some 
irritation. Formerly the librarian of the state library 
was appointed by the governor, lieutenant-governor, and 
state officers. In the year 1842, Mr. William Cassidy, 
a young man who had many friends in Albany, as well 
on account of his own character as on that of his fa- 
ther, who, though little known out of Albany, with all 
the ardent native benevolence of an Irishman, literally 
fed the hungry and clothed the naked, was appointed 
librarian by the votes of the state officers — Messrs. 
Young, Flagg, and Barker — against the votes of Gov- 
ernor Seward and Lieutenant-governor Bradish. He 
continued to hold the office till June, 1844 ; but in the 
winter of that year an act was passed constituting the 
regents of the university trustees of the state library, 
and transferring to them the power of appointing the 
librarian. It has been suggested by the friends of Mr. 
Cassidy, that one cause of passing this act was to pro- 
cure his removal from the office. However this may 
be, on the 1st day of June, at a meeting of the regents, 
Mr. Cassidy was removed. We ought to have men- 
tioned, that he had for some time before been one of the 



430 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 

editors of the Albany Atlas ; and it was urged, on a mo- 
tion for his removal, that his time and attention were so 
much engaged in the management of that paper, that he 
did not, and could not, devote the necessary time to the 
proper performance of his duties as a librarian ;- bu^ no 
specific charge of official negligence was made against 
him. The board of regents proper were equally divided 
on the question of removal. The ex-offici.o regents then 
present were, the secretary of state, Col. Young, and 
Governor Bouck and Lieutenant-governor Dickinson. 
Mr. Young voted against the removal and Mr. Dickin- 
son for it. This cast the responsibility on Gov. Bouck 
of giving a casting vote, and he gave that vote for the 
removal of Cassidy. The course of the governor on this 
question increased the hostility and irritation against him. 
The whigs, though few in number during this session, 
were under the advisement and direction of several 
very sagacious and far-seeing politicians, such as Mr. 
Hard and Mr. Rhoades of the senate, and Mr. Stevens 
and Mr. Linn of the assembly. Their policy, and in 
our judgment their true policy, was to do nothing. 
They perceived that while they acted as apparent spec- 
tators, the hostility between the hunkers and radicals was 
every day increasing, and the breach between them was 
widening. They held the balance of power between 
those two sections ; and they exercised that power so 
judiciously that neither the hunkers nor radicals could, 
with any plausibility, charge the adverse party with 
a combination with the whigs. The effect of this 
policy was to increase the hostility of each section 
ao'ainst the other, which of course weakened and 
deadened the energy of the democrats as an entire 
party. Thu.'*, in the appointment of state printer, they 



1844.] MR. HULBURD AND THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 431 

sustained the hunkers; in rejecting the nominations of 
the governor, in the senate, they generally acted with 
the radicals ; on financial questions and on the subject 
of internal improvements they voted with the hunkers, 
but on the subject of constitutional amendments, and the 
call of a convention, they generally acted in concert 
with the radical wing of the democratic party. We do 
not mean to insinuate that the action of the whigs on 
these great questions was governed solely by party con- 
siderations. The probability is, they were quite as sin- 
cere and conscientious as were either portion of the 
other party. 

We cannot consent to conclude this very imperfect 
account of the legislation during the session of 1844, 
without mentioning the great and important services of 
Mr. Hulburd in the establishment of the normal school. 
He personally visited the normal schools in Massachu- 
setts, and on his return made a report containing the in- 
formation he had acquired, and the result of his own re- 
flections on the subject, which concluded by recom- 
mending the establishment of such an institution in 
Albany. 

The report is drawn with great ability, and in every 
line of it the benevojent heart of the author is developed. 
It concludes with the following eloquent and touching 
appeal : 

" In concluding this long report, the committee would 
fain ask, is there no responsibility resting upon this legis- 
lature to do something to lessen some of the evils of our 
school system ? Is there no obligation resting upon us 
to make at least an effort to renovate the schools — to 
supply them with competent teachers ? Can we ad- 
journ, having filled a volume with private and local bills, 



432 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

without yielding a pittance of our time to consider, and 
perfect, and pass an act of vital interest to the right edu- 
cation, the well-being, of more than six hundred thousand 
of the children of this state ? Have none of us read 
and felt as that noble Prussian expressed himself: 'I 
promised God that I would look upon every Prussian 
peasant as a being who could complain of me before 
God, if I did not provide for him the best education, as 
a man and a Christian, which it was possible for me to 
provide ?' 

" ' When education is to be rapidly advanced,' says 
President Basche, 'seminaries for teachers afford the 
means of securing this result.' Do we not owe it to the 
too-long neglected children — do we not owe it to the 
state itself — do we not owe it to our whole country, that 
these ' approved means' of the rapid advance of the best 
education should at once be prepared ? 

" ' Duties rising out of good possessed, 
And prudent caution needful to avert 
Impending evil, equally require 

That the whole people should he taught and trained. 
So shall licentiousness and black resolve 
Be rooted out, and virtuous habits take 
Their place ; and genuine piety descend, 
Like an inheritance, from age to age.' " 

We hardly need add, that the recommendation of Mr. 
Hulburd was effectual, and that a law passed in pursu- 
ance of it. 

The legislature adjourned on the 7th of May, and the 
evening preceding the democratic members held the 
usual caucus for the purpose of adopting an address to 
their constituents, and resolutions expressive of their 
opinions on the prominent political questions which then 
excited the attention of the public. 



1844.] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 433 

Mr. Speaker Litchfield was appointed chairman, and 
Mr. Dennison, of the senate, and Mr. Carr, of the as- 
sembly, were chosen secretaries. 

The address was reported by Judge Bockee, and did 
not encounter any opposition ; but the fifth and sixth 
resolutions, which approved of the official conduct of 
Governor Bouck and Lieutenant-governor Dickinson, 
were opposed. 

Mr. Glazier, of the city of New York, said, that having 
the unity of the democratic party sincerely at heart, and 
believing that this could only be promoted by laying on 
the table the three resolutions preceding the last, [those 
in relation to the governor, lieutenant-governor, and 
state officers,] he accordingly made that motion, and 
called for the ayes and noes on it. 

The motion to lay these resolutions on the table was 
lost, twenty-three members voting for it, and seventy- 
nine against it. Speeches were made, and some disor- 
der in the gallery occurred, but the resolutions and ad- 
dress were finally adopted. 

Immediately upon the adjournment the following note 
was delivered to Mr. Corning, chairman of the commit- 
tee appointed to superintend the publication of the ad- 
dress and resolutions : 

" Albany, May Ith, 1844. 
" We, the undersigned, democratic members of the 
legislature, entirely dissent from so much of one of the 
resolutions adopted at the caucus of democratic mem- 
bers of the legislature, held last evening, as declares, 
' that William C. Bouck has adhered with fidelity to the 
sound policy which has ever characterized democratic 
administrations, and advanced the state in a career of 

37 



434 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

prosperity and honor ;' and wq, for that reason, direct 
that our names be not attached to the address and reso- 
lutions adopted at that caucus. 

" John Porter, Robert Dennison, H. W. Strong, 
Albert Lester, Ab'm A. Deyo, Edmund Var- 
ney, John B. Scott, Samuel Young, R. C. 
Field, L. C. Stimpson, David H. Smith, Geo. 
G. Glazier, George W. TuthilJ, F. D. Flanders, 
Leonard Lee, Peter H. Warren, Daniel Noyes, 
Michael Hoffman, William H. Jansen, R. W. 
Clark, Alban Strong." 

" Albany, May Ith, 1844. 
"Hon. E. Corning, — 

" Dear Sir : — The undersigned, not being able to sub- 
scribe to the tariff doctrine set forth in the address 
adopted at the democratic caucus last evening, and Mr. 
Van Buren not being the\r first choice for the presiden- 
cy, request that their names shall not be appended to 

the said address. 

"George G. Glazier, 

"F. D. Flanders.' 



55 



After the adjournment of the legislature, the whigs 
published an address, signed by forty members. It is 
written with great tact and ability. We know not who 
was its author, but we think we can discover pretty 
strong traces of Thurlow Weed through the whole of it. 

It commences with a most scorching sarcasm at the 
division of the democratic party and its causes. As re- 
spects the public debt, it says : 

" In the review which has been made of the past, it 
has appeared, and is now admitted, that only $4,075,000 
of the whole public debt was borrowed by the whig ad- 



1844.] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM. 435 

ministration and their predecessors, and more than three 
millions in performing contracts actually made by those 
predecessors. In the darkest hour the state has ever 
seen, the whigs performed every contract without taxa- 
tion. Their successors, with the aid of a tax of $600,000, 
have broken contracts on which they have already sub- 
jected the state to $800,000 damages, and the future 
aggregate of this ruinous expenditure cannot yet be con- 
ceived." 

We have omitted to state, as we ought to have done, 
that under the act of congress for the distribution of the 
avails of the sales of public lands, about $90,000 had 
been apportioned to the state of New York, and for- 
warded to Albany by the United States treasurer ; but 
that this state for a long time (one or two years) re- 
fused to receive the money, and that the democratic 
members of the legislature in 1844 persisted in such re- 
fusal. This course of conduct the whig address con- 
demns in terms, as we think, of just and well-merited 
severity. That money was, by a law of congress, the 
property of the state of New York. Whether the law 
for the distribution was wise or unwise, could in no way 
affect the right or the duty to use the money for the 
benefit of the state. It was incumbent on the lesfislature 
to make the best use of that as well as of any other 
property belonging to the state. The affectation (for it 
was little other) of unwillingness to receive and appro- 
priate it, was a kind of political prudery, discreditable 
to any party. 

The signers of the address declare themselves in fa- 
vor of a convention to amend the constitution, and spe- 
cify several alterations in the organic law which they 
deem necessary, among which are a change in our judi- 



436 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

ciary system, an extension of the right of suffrage to all cit- 
izens, and the equalization of representation by dividing 
the state into senate and assembly districts. They repu- 
diate any restriction of the legislative power to create debt 
or to loan money. They claim to be the authoi's and pa- 
trons of the law requiring that the canal commissioners 
shall be elected by the people. They condemn any ma- 
terial alteration of the tariff" law of 1842, and they repu- 
diate the project of annexing Texas to the U. States. They 
inform their constituents that they have recommended 
Millard Fillmore for the office of vice-president ; and 
they pronounce a handsome eulogium upon Mr. Clay. 
The following is the concluding part of the address : 

" The whig party is devoted to progress, but it does 
not destroy. It seeks to establish perfect equality of po- 
litical rights ; but it levels upwards, not downwards, by 
education and benignant legislation, not by subverting 
established laws or institutions. It is the party of law, 
of order, of enterprise, of improvement, of beneficence, 
of hope, and of humanity. Through the action of this 
great and generous party, every attainable national good 
may be ultimately secured ; and through its action we 
can best promote the more comprehensive interests of 
freedom and of humanity throughout the world." ' 

No one can fail to perceive that the closing scene 
tended to widen the breach between the two sections of 
the democratic party, and to leave on the minds of the 
members at parting an impression which would continue 
during the recess of the legislature. They must have 
(juitted the capitol with feelings which disposed them to 
encourage dissensions in the several counties which they 
represented, rather than to endeavor to excite zeal and 
active efforts in support of the common cause. 



1844.1 ISSUE AT THE ELECTION IN 1840. 437 



CHAPTER XV. 

BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 

The issue on which Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 — Annexation of 
Texas — Mr. Van Buren's Letter to Mr. Hammit — Intrigues at Wash- 
ington — Two-third Rule — Proceedings at the Baltimore Convention — 
Nomination of James K. Polk — Mr. Wright declines to be a Candidate 
for Vice-President — George M. Dallas is nominated Vice-President — 
Whig Convention — Mr. Clay nominated for President — Mr. Freling- 
huysen for Vice-President — Millard Fillmore supported by the New 
York Delegation — His Character. 

The principal, if not the only material issue on which 
Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 was on the sub- 
treasury system, which he recommended and supported, 
and which, under his administration, was established by 
law. Notwithstanding the national democratic party 
were most effectually beaten on that issue, the more they 
reflected on the measure, the more they were confirmed 
in the opinion that it was a wise and salutary one. All 
men became convinced that the state banks could not 
be safely relied upon as the fiscal agents of the govern- 
ment, all felt that the deposites of the national revenue 
in those institutions had led, and saw that it must here- 
after lead to expansions and contractions in the circula- 
ting medium of the country, ruinous to the business part 
of community. The only alternative then remaining 
was a national bank, against the chartering of which by 
congress the whole democratic party was solemnly 
pledged. No one had ever objected to the talents, or 
deportment, or the purity of the private character of 

37* 



438 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

Mr. Van Buren. He had therefore been broken down 
for the sole reason, that he had sustained and endeav- 
ored to carry into effect the poUtical principles of the 
party to which he belonged. It would seem, therefore, 
that there could be no objections to his renomination by 
the same party, except those arising from factious mo- 
tives. 

The democratic convention to designate a candidate 
for president was to meet at Baltimore on the 27th of 
May, and delegates to that assembly were chosen, we 
believe, in all the states of the Union, during the prece- 
ding winter. A large majority of those delegates were 
instructed by the respective state conventions, by which 
they were chosen, to vote, and use their influence for the 
nomination of Mr. Van Buren. Thus every thing indi- 
cated concord and harmony. But in the early part of 
the spring of 1844, a question arose which materially 
changed the feelings of the democratic party in the 
southern section of the Union towards Mr. Van Buren. 

Some six or seven 'years before the period of which 
we are now speaking, Texas, a Mexican province, con- 
ceded to be such by more than one treaty solemnly en- 
tered into by the United States, had declared itself 
independent of the government of Mexico, and her in- 
dependence had been acknowledged by the United States 
and several other nations. Mexico attempted to recover 
her revolted province, but the war she waged against the 
insurgents was feeble and unsuccessful. A suspension 
of active hostilities had once or twice been agreed on, 
but the war continued. In this state of things Mr. Cal- 
houn, secretary of state, under the direction of President 
Tyler, negotiated with Texas a treaty of annexation, 
and that treaty was before the senate of the United 



1844.] ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 439 

States in the winter of 1844. The reasons urged in 
favor of this measure were, the contiguity of that terri- 
tory to the United States, and its great value ; that we had 
erred in the treaties we had made with Mexico and Texas 
in conceding that that country belonged to Mexico ; and 
that it was our duty to interfere to check the carnage 
produced by a ruthless war, which Mexico had lately 
threatened to render still more ruthless and sanguinary. 
But Mr. Calhoun, the official organ of the government, 
and a bold, frank, and honorable man, who despised sub- 
terfuge, in his correspondence with Great Britain put 
forth other and different reasons for the treaty of annex- 
ation ; which were, — that annexation was indispensable, 
in order io preserve and perpetuate slavery in the slave- 
holding states. The treaty failed of obtaining a consti- 
tutional majority in the senate ; but Texas was ulti- 
mately annexed to the United States by a joint reso- 
lution ! 

We will add but one other remark on the subject of 
annexation. After Texas became independent, she pro- 
vided by her constitution for the establishment of slavery, 
but prohibited the importation of slaves from all parts of 
the world except the United States. This gave the 
slaveholding states a monopoly of the slave-trade in 
that territory. Shortly before Mr. Calhoun commenced 
his negotiations, it was understood that through the in- 
fluence of Great Britain, Mexico had agreed to terminate 
the war against Texas, and acknowledge her indepen- 
dence, if she would so far alter her constitution as to 
abolish slavery, and would stipulate not to annex herself 
to the United States. Had Texas abolished slavery, the 
sale of the surplus slave population in Virginia, South Car- 
olina, and the other slaveholding states, would in future 



440 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

have been prevented, which Mr. Calhoun foresaw at no 
very distant period would result in the abolition of sla- 
very in those states. It was also pretty well understood 
that Texas would accede to the proposition of Mexico, 
and would abolish slavery.* Mr. Calhoun considered 
annexation as the only means of preventing the consum- 
mation of this project ; and he was therefore right in 
stating that annexation was essential to the preservation 
and perpetuity of the institution of slavery in the slave- 
holding states. 

In this state of affairs, the people of those states, and 
especially the members of congress representing them, 
naturally felt an anxious solicitude to learn the opinion 
of Mr. Van Buren on the subject of annexation. This 
solicitude was increased by the fact that Mr. Clay was 
then the avowed whig presidential candidate, and it was 
generally believed he was opposed to uniting Texas with 
this government without the consent and against the 
wishes of Mexico. With a view to elicit the views of 
Mr. Van Buren, on the 27th of March, Mr. Hammit, a 
member of congress from the state of Mississippi, and a 
delegate to the Baltimore Convention, addressed a letter 
to Mr. Van Buren, requesting him in his reply to declare 
his opinion on the subject of annexation. There can be 
little doubt that Mr. Hammit wrote this letter at the re- 
quest of Mr. Walker, a senator from Mississippi, and 
perhaps many other influential democratic members 
from the South ; and it may fairly be inferred from the 
terms of the letter, that Mr. Hammit meant to give 
Mr. Van Buren to understand that his support, and that 
of those friends who thought with him, would depend 



* See the Georgia speech of General Lamar, vice-president of Texas. 



1844.] VAN buren's reply to hammit. 441 

upon Mr. Van Buren's answer. " I am," said Mr. Ham- 
mit, " an unpledged delegate to the Baltimore Conven- 
tion." * * * 

" It is believed that a full and frank declaration from 
you, favorable to this great object, will be of great ser- 
vice to the cause, at a moment so critical of its destiny ; 
and should you recognise my right to inquire, and your 
duty to answer, I shall be greatly obliged to you for a 
letter setting forth your opinions." * * * 

" Pardon me for suggesting that should your opinions 
be favorable to annexation, the weight and influence of 
those opinions would be doubly enhanced, in the estima- 
tion of all true friends of the measure, by the earliest 
possible public avowal of them before the country." 

Mr. Van Buren, on the 20th of April, answered this 
letter by declaring himself opposed to annexation. He 
did not, in his very lengthy and able letter, refer to the 
slave question, but placed his opposition on the ground, 
that the United States and the republic of Mexico were 
at peace ; that Mexico claimed jurisdiction over Texas ; 
that the former was then prosecuting a war against the 
latter in support of that claim ; that annexation at that 
time, if not an act of war on the part of the United 
States, would provoke a declaration of war by Mexico; 
and that no principle in the code of the laws of nations 
would justify the measure.''' This reply roused to ener- 



* Mr. Croswell, in the Pame paper in which he published Mr. Van Bu- 
ren's letter, remarks that " it is a statesman-like production, marked by 
that far-reaching sagacity and comprehensive judgment so eminently 
characteristic of Mr. Van Buren's state papers. * * * Every Ameri- 
can reader, not entirely under the dominion of prejudice, will admit the 
force of his conclusions." In one "little month" Mr. Croswell arrived 
at a very different " conclusion" from that of Mr. Van Buren. 



442 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

getic action, in opposition to the nomination of Mr. Van 
Buren, the pohticians of the slaveholding states. 

We have before alluded to the zeal, and vigor, and 
unanimity with which the JSouth always act on all ques- 
tions in which that section of the Union is more imme- 
diately interested ; but no question ever produces more 
excitement and union of action than that which regards 
slavery. Thus, while the institution of slavery occa- 
sions physical weakness in states where it exists, in the 
political relation which those states bear to the Union, it 
produces political strength. It constitutes a common 
bond of union, of which the free states are destitute. 
Hence it is much more easy to create divisions among 
the people of the North than of the South, both in re- 
spect of men and measures. A minor section of either 
of the parties at the North, joining a solid phalanx of 
men nominally of the same party, of the South, transfers 
from the majority of the North the control of the party 
to the southern members of it, who, notwithstanding, are 
themselves really a minority of the national party. The 
" Doughfaces' of the North, has become a phrase per- 
fectly understood in every part of this country. In jus- 
tice to the whi^s it ouc^ht to be mentioned, that there are 
many more democrats than whigs who have received, 
and justly merited, that opprobrious name, first invented 
by the sarcastic John Randolph. 

Mr. Buchanan, the present secretary of state, and Mr. 
Calhoun, then secretary of state, had each been named 
by their respective friends as suitable candidates for the 
presidency, but both of them, in the early part of the win- 
ter, publicly declined a competition. Mr. Cass, of Michi- 
gan, had also been mentioned in connection with that 
high station ; and the number of democratic candidates 



1844.] BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 443 

was now apparently reduced to two — Mr. Van Buren 
and Mr. Cass. The latter, after the publication of Mr. 
Van Buren's letter, declared himself to be in favor of 
the annexation of Texas. Measures were soon taken to 
produce an impression among the young and aspiring 
politicians of the North and West, that as after the elec- 
tion of Gen. Harrison many of the officers appointed by 
Mr. Van Buren were dismissed from office, if he should 
be re-elected, it would be a mere restoration to power of 
the old dynasty of office-holders, without due regard to 
the changes in society which eight years had produced. 
Letters from Washington to the friends of Mr. Van 
Buren, received soon after the publication of his letter 
to Mr. Hammit, gave information that very active ef- 
forts were being made to defeat his nomination, which 
produced alarm, not only here, but in other states. 
When these reports reached Ohio, a number of the most 
respectable citizens of that state addressed a letter to the 
Ohio delegation in congress, insisting upon the support 
of Mr. Van Buren ; and the reaction in the democratic 
party appeared so great, that for a week or two before 
the convention were to meet, the agitators, who were 
still determined that he sfiould not be the candidate, 
found it necessary, with a view, no doubt, to deaden the 
activity of his friends, to affect that opposition to Van 
Buren was in a great measure abandoned ; and by this 
means an apparent calm at the capital was produced. 
How real this was, the action of the convention will 
show. But nevertheless, so well did the managers in 
the plot of this drama or farce perform their parts, that 
many of the most zealous supporters of Mr. Van Buren 
believed the opposition to him was given up. A mem- 
oer of congress, whom the cautious editor of the Albany 



444 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

Arsrus certified was a man of " clear views and extend- 
ed information," in a letter to that editor, dated at Wash- 
ington, the 18th day of May, only nine days before the 
meeting of the convention, expresses his conviction that 
public opinion is settling down with great unanimity in 
favor of Mr. Van Buren. " Even the exciting question 
of the annexation of Texas," says the writer, " which by 
hands at least incautious, if not unfriendly, was thrown 
into our camp on the eve of the most important consul- 
tation to be held by the democratic party, is beginning 
to contribute to the advancement of our cause. Many 
of the strongest advocates of annexation, upon reflec- 
tion, have come to regard the grounds taken by Mr. 
Van Buren in his able letter on that subject, as the only 
policy consistent with not only the honor, but the true 
interests of the country. Such is fast becoming, and 
will soon be, the opinion of the whole South." 

But during this apparent calm, the plot must have 
been maturing which eventually deprived Mr. Van Bu- 
ren of the nomination. 

When Gen. Jackson, in 1832, was nominated for re- 
election at Baltimore, and when it was known there was 
not a single delegate in attendance who was not in fa- 
vor of his nomination, for the purpose of exhibiting to 
the nation the perfect unanimity prevalent on that occa- 
sion, the convention adopted a rule that the votes of 
two-thirds of all the delegates present should be neces- 
sary, in order to make a valid nomination. The same 
rule, under circumstances nearly if not quite similar, and 
for the same reasons, (for there was in reality no candi- 
date in the field against Mr. Van Buren,) was continued 
at the convention of 1836, when Mr. Vaii Buren was 
nominated. 



1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 445 

It is impossible to believe that any body of sober- 
minded men could have adopted this rule with the inten- 
tion that it should be applied in a case where there was 
a real difference of opinion among the members of a 
nominating convention, and where they were nearly 
equally divided in relation to the selection of a candi- 
date. 

A nominating caucus is, or ought to be, composed of 
delegates representing a political party, the members of 
which agree as respects principles and measures, and 
who, through their delegates, meet together for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining who the majority of the party de- 
sire to select as agents to carry into effect those prin- 
ciples and measures. Now the two-third rule is calculated 
to defeat this gi'eat and only object of caucusing, for it 
vests in the minority the power of controlling the majori- 
ty. A convention consists of 300 members. It assembles 
for the purpose of ascertaining who the majority of the 
party desire should be their candidate for governor. One 
hundred and ninety-nine of the members wish to put A. in 
nomination, and 101 of the same body are in favor of B. 
The two-third rule enables 101 members to say to the 
199 members, you shall nominate B. or there shall be no 
nomination. A more effectual means of encouraging 
faction in a party could not be devised. 

It has been suggested that several of the democratic 
members of congress from the state of New York were 
cold towards the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, believ- 
ing, or affecting to believe, that he was not the most 
available -candidate. If such was the fact, we do not 
know who those persons were, nor to which section of the 
party they belonged ; but it is not improbable that some 
of the democratic members from this state, either open- 

38 



446 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 

ly or secretly, favored the views of the southern party ; 
for when has there been a time since the discussion of 
the famous Missouri question, that a portion of the New 
York members did not come in aid of the South on any 
question between northern and southern democrats ? 

The delegates to the Baltimore Convention from the 
state of New York were composed indiscriminately of 
radicals and hunkers. Samuel Young, Benjamin F. 
Butler, C. C. Cambreleng, Robert Campbell, jr., Alonzo 
C. Paige, Albert Lester, and John Fine, radicals, and 
Daniel S. Dickinson, Erastus Corning, Job Pierson, John 
Stryker, Thomas B. Mitchell, and John C. Wright, 
hunkers, were on the delegation. Although the dele- 
gates from this state may have differed in opinion about 
the time when Mr. Van Buren's name should be with- 
drawn from the competition for the nomination, as will 
hereafter be seen, we have never heard, nor do we be- 
lieve that any of them acted, either openly or covertly, 
in bad faith. 

A highly intelligent and candid member of the New 
York delegation has, at the request of the author, favored 
him with a communication containing the reminiscences 
of the writer of the proceedings of his colleagues, and 
of what occurred in the convention. We shall give the 
substance of that communication in his own words, 
though we regret to say that we are not permitted to 
furnish the reader with the name of our correspondent. 

After alluding to the fact that Mr. Van Buren, as 
early as the year 1842, had received notice that he had 
been nominated for the next presidency by t-he demo- 
cratic members of the legislature of the state of Mis- 
souri, and to the answer of Mr. Van Buren, addressed 
to those members, in which he expressed his unalterable 



1844.] THE TVVO-TIIIRD RULE. 447 

determination not to be again a candidate ; and also to 
the proceedings of the democratic party in the south- 
western states, denying the right of Mr. Van Buren to 
decHne being a candidate, and insisting that he had be- 
come so identified with the leading measures advocated 
by the democratic party, that a political victory of that 
party could not be achieved in 1844 without inscribing 
his name on their banner ; and also, after stating what 
we have already mentioned, that a majority of the dele- 
gates elected to the Baltimore Convention had been in- 
structed to support Mr. Van Buren, our correspondent 
says : 

" The New York delegation held a meeting in the 
city of New York when on their way to Baltimore. At 
this meeting Mr. Butler, and other members of the del- 
egation, expressed fears that the two-third rule would be 
adopted by the convention. After arriving at Balti- 
more, we held several meetings for private consultation. 
Judge Fine, who was then a member of congress, stated 
at one of those meetings, that for several weeks then 
past, most of the friends of annexation in congress 
had been engaged in various devices to impress upon 
the members of the convention that Mr. Van Buren's 
popularity was on the wane, — that the friends of Gen. 
Cass, Senator Buchanan, and Judge Woodbury, were 
acting in concert with the southern delegates, and would 
so vote in convention ; that is to say, they would vote 
for ' the two-third rule,' which would as effectually de- 
feat Mr. Van Buren's nomination as if they openly vio- 
lated their instructions by a direct vote against him. 

" Judge Fine, Mr. Butler, and other members of the 
New York delegation, reposed great confidence in the 
opinions and statements of Mr. C?.\q, Johnson, of Ten- 



443 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

nessee. He frequently met with our delegation, and 
expressed himself in the strongest terms of personal and 
political friendship towards Mr. Van Puren and Mr. 
Wright. He said he regretted that the democratic con- 
vention in Tennessee had not named Mr. V. B. as the 
candidate. So strong was the confidence of the New 
York delegation in Mr. Johnson as the friend of Mr. 
Van Buren, that he was apprized of all our plans in re- 
gard to the organization of the convention, and was re- 
quested to nominate Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire, 
as temporary chairman. But when the convention as- 
sembled," [on the morning of the 27th of May,] " fifteen 
minutes before the time fixed for commencing proceed- 
ings, Gen. Saunders, of North Carolina, called the con- 
vention to order, and nominated Hendrick B. Wright, of 
Pennsylvania, a friend of Mr. Buchanan, as temporary 
president." 

Among the most distinguished members of the con- 
vention from states other than the state of New York, 
were Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire ; George Ban- 
croft, Gov. Morton, and Mr. Rantoul, of Massachusetts ; 
Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut ; George A. Vroom, of 
New Jersey; George C. Dromgoole, of Virginia; H. 
B. Wright, of Pennsylvania ; Gen. Saunders, of North 
Carolina ; R. J. Walker, of Mississippi ; Samuel Ewing, 
of Ohio ; J. W. Tibbatts, of Kentucky ; and Senator 
Hannegan, of Indiana. Mr. Walker, Gen. Saunders, 
and Mr. Cave Johnson were the principal managers for 
the delegates from the southern section of the Union. 

Before the convention was regularly organized. Gen. 
Saunders moved that the rules and regulations adopted 
by the national conventions of 1832 and 1836 should be 
adopted as the rules of that convention. After some 



1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 449 

conversation Gen. S. withdrew his resolution, and the 
assembly proceeded to ascertain who were entitled to 
seats. There were 336 delegates in attendance, several 
of the states having elected a greater number of dele- 
gates than the number of electoral votes to which they 
were entitled.* It was finally agreed that all the dele- 
gates chosen should be considered members of the con- 
vention ; but that in voting each state should be entitled 
to give votes equal to its number of electors in the elec- 
toral college, and no more. After this decision was 
made, " it was understood," says our correspondent, 
"that the delegates from Virginia, Illinois, and several 
other states, among whom there was a difference of opin- 
ion with respect to the propriety of adopting the two- 
third rule, agreed, in order that the states from which 
such delegates came should have their full and legit- 
imate influence and weight in the convention, that 
the minorities should yield to the majorities, (not the 
majorities to the minorities, according to the principle of 
the two-third rule,) and cast the whole vote of the state 
according to the wishes of the majority." Thus, sup- 
pose there were 25 delegates from Virginia, 13 of whom 
were for the t o-third rule, and 12 against it, the state 
of Virginia gave 25 votes for the rule. The friends of 
Mr. Van Buren complained that the adoption of this 
practice operated against their candidate. 

After these preliminary matters were settled. General 
Saunders renewed his motion for the adoption of the 
rules of 1832 and 1836. This occasioned a long and 
highly inflammatory debate. The only question in issue 
was that in relation to the two-third rule. 



* There were 53 delegates in attendance from Virginia. 



450 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

Mr. Butler concluded an argumentative and eloquent 
speech against the rule in the following words : 

" I ask, Mr. President, of the calm and deliberate 
judgment of the convention, whether they will adopt a 
rule not only unsound and false in principle, but which, 
if adhered to, will, beyond all peradventure, end either 
in preventing any nomination whatever, or else in coer- 
cing the majority to yield to a minority. Adopt this 
rule, and what are the majority to do ? Either they 
must surrender their preference — abandon their first 
choice, the man, perhaps, whom they were instructed 
to support — or else the convention must break up, and 
all that we came here to do, be left undone. In the lat- 
ter case, the convention, by its own act, becomes a nul- 
lity — a felo de se. It cuts its own throat — applies the 
pistol to its brain, the dagger to its heart. Is this the 
way to carry out the purpose that brought us here ? We 
were sent here to do something. Our mission is not 
that of a legislative body. They need not act at all. 
We have no such discretion. We are sent here to act 
— to make a nomination. And I submit that to adopt a 
rule which requires what we know cannot be done — 
unless the majority yield to the minority — is to subject 
ourselves to the rule, not of reason, but of despotism, 
and to defeat the true purposes and objects of the con- 
vention — the accomplishment of the people's will for the 
promotion of the people's good." 

Mr. Walker replied to Mr. Butler with some as- 
perity. If the sketch of Mr. Walker's speech which 
has been published, is correct, it was at least singu- 
lar, if he meant it should be considered and received 
as an ai'gument proper to be addressed to men of 
common candor and common sense. As a specimen 



1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 451 

of it, we copy the following paragraph from the Albany 
Argus : 

" Mr. Walker, of Mississippi, regarded the question 
as fully presented by the resolution of Mr. Saunders, 
and went on to argue in favor of the two-third rule — 
having prevailed ever since the convention system ex- 
isted, whenever there had been a divided sentiment as 
to candidates, or whenever there was any state of things 
to which such a rule could ^pply ; and insinuating that 
the settled rule was now sought to be changed, not to 
benefit the democratic party, but to affect favorably an 
individual of that party — to elevate men above meas- 
ures. He argued also in favor of the rule in the ab- 
stract, as necessary and right in order to secure for the 
nominee the vote of a majority of the democratic party, 
and that to reverse it, would he to give to a minority of 
the democratic party the power to dictate to the majority 
who should he the candidate." 

So far from its being true that " the two-third rule 
had prevailed whenever there had been a divided senti- 
ment as to the candidate," such a case had not, as we 
have seen, occurred since it was introduced in 1832, and 
of course it had never been so applied. Mr. Monroe, in 
1816, was nominated in a congressional caucus against 
Mr. Crawford by a majority of nine votes only.* Mr. 
Walker's proposition, that to abolish the two-third rule, 
and allow a majority vote to control, " would be to give 
a minority of the democratic party the power to dictate 
to the majority who should be the candidate," is so pal- 
pably absurd that it would be offensive if urged by any 
man of common sense to an intelligent audience. We 
therefore seriously doubt Avhether Mr. W. can have been 

* The author was a member of that caucus. 



452 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

correctly reported. On calling the ayes and noes the 
two-third rule was sustained by the following vote : 

Ayes — Massachusetts 5, Vermont 3, Rhode Island 2, 
Connecticut 3, New Jersey 7, Pennsylvania 12, Dela- 
ware 3, Maryland 6, Virginia 17, North Carolina 5, 
Georgia 10, Alabama 9, Mississippi 6, Louisiana 6, Ten- 
nessee 13, Kentucky 12, Indiana 12, Illinois 9, Michigan 
5, Arkansas 3 — 148. 

Noes — Maine 9, New Hampshire 6, Massachusetts 7, 
Vermont 3, Rhode Island 2, Connecticut 3, New York 
36, Pennsylvania 13, Maryland 2, North Carolina 5, 
Ohio 23, Missouri 7 — 116. Absent — one from Pennsyl- 
vania, and one from North Carolina. 

On this proceeding a correspondent of one of the Al- 
bany journals remarks : 

" The opponents of the two-third vote lose much by 
some states casting a divided vote, where the ma- 
jority of the delegation were against the rule — as in 
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania — and by other states 
casting their entire vote for the rule, where there was 
a division of sentiment — as in New Jersey, Alabama, 
Indiana, and Virginia. Virginia was the last to vote, the 
delegation being permitted to retire to consult, and not 
coming in until all the rest of the states had voted. Her 
vote was of course decisive, and such a scene of uproar, 
excitement, and confusion could scarcely have been 
equalled even in the house of representatives. The 
proposition on which the convention voted was? General 
Saunders' proposition moved as a substitute for Mr. 
Jewett's — the latter proposing a committee of twenty- 
six to report rules, and the former moving his substitute, 
adopting the rules in force in 1832 and 1836, the two- 
third rule among the rest. The speakers wh) took part in 



1844.] Tin: two-third rule. 453 

the debate were Messrs. Tibbatts of Kentucky, Morton 
and Rantoul of Massachusetts, Walker of Mississippi, 
Dickinson and Butler of New York, Medary of Ohio, 
Jewett of Maine, Colquitt of Georgia, Hubbard of New 
Hampshire, Toucey of Connecticut, and Saunders of 
North Carolina." 

The delegates from the following states were either 
instructed by the respective conventions who elected 
them to vote for Martin Van Buren, or those conven- 
tions actually nominated him for president, — Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- 
chu.setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and New York, 
— and yet there were sixty-three votes given from those 
states in favor of the two-third rule. 

Every man in that convention knew that a majority 
would vote (as they shortly after did) for Mr. Van Bu- 
ren. They knew also that if the two-third rule prevailed 
Van Buren could not be nominated. A vote therefore 
for the two-third rule was a vote against Mr. Van Bu- 
ren. So self-evident is this proposition, that to charge 
any member of the convention with not knowing that 
this would be the effect of such a vote, would be to 
charfje him with idiocv. Mr. Brewster nevertheless said 
that no delegate from Pennsvlvania " dare" return home 
without voting for Martin Van Buren, so long as his name 
was before the convention ; and vet twelve of the Penn- 
sylvania delegation, of whom Mr. Brewster we presume 
was one, voted for the tn-o-third rule. Mr. Buchanan 
was opposed to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren ; what 
his motives for that opposition were, we do not choose 
to inquire, and although the Pennsylvania delegation did 
vote for Van Buren, it is well known that from regard 



454 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

to Mr. Buchanan, or some other cause, they did not de- 
sire that the person for whom they voted should be the 
nominee. Some of the delegates from Massachusetts 
and other states undoubtedly voted with feelings similar 
to those of the Pennsylvania delegates. To justify their 
conduct in the view of conscientious men requires a spe- 
cies of casuistry which we do not understand. 

The convention then proceeded to ballot for a presi- 
dential candidate seven times, with the following re- 
sults : 



Van Buren. 


Cass. 


Johnson. 


Bu- 
chanan. 


Wood- 
bury. 


Cal- 
houn. 


Stewart. 


1st ballot, 


146 


83 


24 


4 


2 


6 


1 


2d " 


127 


94 


33 


9 





1 


1 


3d " 


121 


92 


38 


11 


2 


2 





4th " 


111 


105 


32 


17 





1 





5th " 


103 


107 


29 


26 





1 





6th " 


101 


116 


23 


25 











7th " 


99 


123 


21 


22 





1 






The votes given for Mr. Buchanan must be regarded 
as blank ballots, for he had declared himself hors du 
combat. After these several ballotings, the convention 
adjourned until the next morning. 

Before the adjournment, and during the intervals of 
the ballotings, much conversation took place between 
the delegates from New York and the delegates opposed 
to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, and various sug- 
gestions were made on both sides. After the adjourn- 
ment these conversations, or attempts at negotiation, 
were repeated. 

" The delegates from Ohio and other states, amount- 
ing to more than one-third of the convention, who were 
friendly to Mr. Van Buren's nomination," says our cor- 
respondent, from whom we again quote, " informed 



1844.] actkjx of the n. York delegation. 455 

the New York delegation that they would continue to 
support Mr. Van Bwen as long as he should remain a 
candidate ; and if his name should he withdrawn, they 
would act in concert loith the friends of Mr. V. B." 
[This generous overture, it will be perceived,, under the 
operation of the two-third rule, put it in the power of 
the New York delegation to make such nomination as 
they preferred, or to prevent the making of any nomina- 
tion.] " On Tuesday evening," continues our corre- 
spondent, " some of our delegation had another interview 
with Mr. Cave Johnson, who gave them assurances that 
Col. Polk" [who it seems had received a few votes on 
the eighth ballot] " was a warm friend of Mr. Van Buren 
and Mr. Wright." 

Before Mr. Butler left New York, Mr. Van Buren 
addressed to him a letter, in which, in anticipation that 
dissensions might arise in the convention, Mr. V. B. au- 
thorized and instructed Mr. Butler to withdraw his name 
as a candidate whenever he (Mr. Butler) should become 
satisfied that the use of it would not tend to harmonize 
and unite the convention. In the same letter Mr. Van 
Buren expressed great solicitude that in case his name 
should be withdrawn, Mr. Wright should be nominated. 
On Tuesday evening the New York delegation held a 
consultation, but did not arrive at any definite conclu- 
sion as to what should be their future course in the con- 
vention. On Wednesday morning, before the conven- 
tion proceeded to a ninth ballot, the delegates from New 
York asked leave to withdraw. On that occasion, after 
they had withdrawn, Mr. Butler communicated the in- 
structions he had received from Mr. Van Buren. He 
also stated, that in his judgment the time had arrived 
when Mr. Van Buren's name ought to be withdrawn ; 



45G POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

but as he felt that in so doing he should assume a high 
responsibility to his friend as well as to the public, and 
as he might err in judgment, he could not venture on so 
important an act without the advice and consent of his 
colleagues; He also requested the delegation to advise 
him whose name should be announced as the second 
choice of the democrats of New York for president. 
Mr. Wright was then mentioned as the person most 
likely to obtain the support of the convention and of 
the people of the United States. It was well known 
that his name had been previously mentioned by many 
distinguished and influential politicians at Washington 
as a suitable candidate for the presidency, with their 
cordial approbation ; and the delegates generally ex- 
pressed a decided opinion, that in case Mr. Van Buren's 
name should be withdrawn, that of Mr. Wright should 
be presented. But Judge Fine thereupon produced and 
read to his colleagues the following letter from Mr. 
Wright : 

"Washington, May 23, 1844. 
" Hon. John Fine : 

" My dear Sir — As I know you intend to leave the 
city to-day or to-morrow, to attend to your responsible 
duties as a delegate to the Baltimore Convention ; and 
as you are a delegate from the congressional district in 
which I reside, and are as well my representative in the 
convention, as my neighbor and personal friend, I beg 
leave to trouble you with this note. You will doubtless 
think and feel that I am performing a work of superero- 
gation, as I do myself; and yet, in the present unsettled 
state of the democratic mind in relation to the doings of 
the convention, I do not feel at liberty to omit any act, 



18 U.] MR. 'iVrigiit's letter to judge fine. 457 

which may protect me from being made the instrument, 
however honestly and innocently, of further distractions. 

" Within the last few days several too-partial friends 
have suggested to me the idea that, by possibility, in 
case the opposition to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren 
should be found irreconcilable, a compromise might be 
made by dropping him, and using my name. I need not 
say to you that a consent, on my part, to any such pro- 
ceeding, would justly forfeit my standing with the de- 
mocracy of our state, and cause my faith and fidelity to 
my party to be su.spected everywhere. Personal objec- 
tions are not made against Mr. Van Buren in any quar- 
ter ; and if his known political principles and opinions 
are to set him aside as the republican candidate for 
president, the same objections would make me ineligible, 
so far as my principles and opinions are known ; and I 
am not yet prepared to believe that the democratic party 
of the Union will give a more ardent and enthusiastic 
support to a candidate upon its ticket for that high office 
whose principles are unknown to them, than to one 
known to cherish, at every hazard, principles in precise 
accordance with its own. If that be the pz'esent dispo- 
sition of the party, or of its representatives in the Balti- 
more Convention, I cannot consent to make myself, 
humble as is my position in that great party, the instru- 
ment to withdraw such a canvass. 

" The republicans of New York, with a unanimity 
never surpassed, have made it the duty of yourself, and 
your colleagues in the convention, to present for its ac- 
ceptance the name of Mr. Van Buren, as their choice 
from among themselves, and they have given to you no 
direction to withdraw his name and substitute any other. 
If he is not acceptable to the convention, thev have no 

39 



458 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l844. 

candidate before it, by any expression or act of theirs. 
It is not the high office for a citizen of the state which 
they seek, regardless of the hands in which it is to be 
placed. If by the consent and concurrence of the de- 
mocracy of the Union, the high trust can be reposed in 
his hands, they will feel that their principles and their 
country are safe, and that their cherished state is hon- 
ored, highly, generously honored ; but if the democracy, 
as represented in the convention, cannot concede to this 
their expressed wish, they have no candidate, and their 
delegates are left, like others, to make a selection from 
such other names as shall come before them. 

" These are my views of your position and of your 
duties, and to consent to the use of my name as a can- 
didate, under any circumstances, would be, in my view, 
to invite you to compromise the expressed wishes and 
instructions of your constituents for my personal ad- 
vancement. I can never consent to place myself in a 
position where the suspicion of acting from such a mo- 
tive can justly attach to me ; much less, to be a party to 
such action. I never can consent to place you and your 
colleagues in a position seeming to invite misrepresent- 
ation, on your part, of those to whom you owe your re- 
sponsible trusts, and to whom I owe all that I am, and 
all I have, as a public man. 

" I know well, m}^ dear sir, that I could not present a 
temptation to you, or your respected colleagues, which 
would induce a man of you to swerve from your fidelity 
to your constituents, and your high duty to our great 
party and our common country ; but I desire that you, 
as my immediate representative in the convention, should 
have in your possession the evidence that I cannot be 
made the instrument of any embarrassment upon you. 



1844.] MR. Wright's letter. 450 

" If it were proper I could tell you, with the most 
perfect truth, that I have never been vain enough to 
dream of the office of president, in connection with my 
own name, and were not Mr. Van Buren the candidate 
of our state, I should find just as little difficulty as I now 
do, in telling you that I am not, and cannot, under any 
circumstances, be a candidate before your convention 
for that office. It is wholly unnecessary, however, to 
speak of a state of things which does not exist, and you 
will therefore be pleased to apply this remark to that 
which does. 

" I do not anticipate any occurrence which \\ ill call 
upon you to use this letter, and I certainly do not wish 
to have it used in any other contingency, because I 
should regret very much to seem to assume that I have 
been, am, or may be, a candidate by my own agency. 
Still, it is submitted to your discretion, to be used in 
case any effort shall be made, during the sitting of the 
convention, to connect my name with the office, in a 
manner which shall appear to you to call for this uncon- 
ditional interdict from me. 

" In great haste, I am most truly yours, 

" Silas Wright." 

The delicacy of feeling of the writer towards his old 
and valued friend, the high sense of honor, the ardent 
devotion to the success and prosperity of the political 
party to which he belonged, and the exalted patriotism 
which breathes through every line of this letter, must 
commend it to the heart of every reader. 

After Mr. Wright's letter had been read, and after 
Judge Fine, against the remonstrances of some of the 
delegates, had declared his unalterable determination, 



46.1 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

that in case the name of Mr. Wright should be proposed 
as a candidate in the convention, he would communi- 
cate his written refusal to that assembly, " considerable 
conversation," says our correspondent, "was had in the 
coifsultation held by the delegates on the subject of the 
name to be presented. Col. Young, Senator Lester, and 
several others, remarked that Mr. Van Buren was their 
first and only choice, and the delegation were very much 
divided in opinion as to whom they would support, when 
Mr. Van Buren's name should be withdrawn. Mr. But- 
ler thereupon requested permission of our delegation to 
state when he should withdraw Mr. Van Buren's name, 
whom he [Mr. B.] preferred next to Mr. V. B. for a pres- 
idential candidate, to which there did not seem to be 
any objection. Our delegation then returned to the 
convention. They were then balloting for a candi- 
date." 

After Mr. Roan, of Virginia, on casting the vote of 
that state for Mr. Polk, had briefly addressed the con- 
vention, and in the course of his remarks had handsome- 
ly complimented the state of New York and its delega- 
tion, the vote of New York being called for, Mr. Butler, 
on behalf of the Ne \- York delegation, rose to respond to 
the remarks of Mr. Roan, as well as to inform the conven- 
tion of the result of the deliberations of the delegation 
durincr their absence. He said the democracv of New 
York, notwithstanding the unhappy differences that 
within a few weeks past had existed between them and 
their brethren of Virginia, had never supposed that they 
were to be separated for any length of time. " New 
York," said Mr. Butler, " has never doubted that in the 
end Virginia and New York would be found battling 
side bv side in the cause of the constitution and the 



1844.J MR. butler's speech. 461 

country." ^Ir. Butler then stated to the convention that 
the New York delegation, during their recess, had con- 
sulted on a question of the deepest interest to every 
member ol" it. " It was," said he, " n*o less a question 
than this, whether they had fully discharged the duty 
imposed on them by the instructions of their constitu- 
ents ; whether they had faithfully redeemed their pledges 
to obey those instructions ; and whether, under the cir- 
cumstances in which they were placed, they were re- 
quired, by that spirit of concession, of harmony, and of 
patriotic devotion to the union of the party, which should 
animate every democrat, even when acting in a repre- 
sentative capacity, to withdraw the name of the candi- 
date of their choice not less than of their state, from 
before the convention. It was impossible for the dele- 
gation of New York to enter on the consideration of 
these questions, without the deepest emotion and solici- 
tude. And I need not tell you, sir, that to no one of our 
number did they address themselves with more intense 
force, awakening every sentiment of honorable friend- 
ship, of public and of private obligation, and stirring up 
the very depths of his inmost soul, than to myself. Mr. 
B. then proceeded to speak of the relations existing be- 
tween Mr. Van Buren and himself, in a strain of warm 
and unaffected feeling, which deeply impressed the con- 
vention. Indebted to him for the means of acquiring 
the profession through which he had attained to what- 
ever of public consideration he enjoyed ; for years a 
member of his family : his partner in professional, his 
friend, supporter, and associate in political and public 
life ; the ties by which he was bound to the distin- 
guished citizen of New York, whose name had been 
so honorably presented to the nation for the first office 

39* 



462 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

in its gift, were almost as strong, as sacred, and as len- 
der, as those which bind a son to a father." 

" As regards Mr. Van Buren himself," says Mr. B., 
" I could entertain no doubt as to the propriety of the 
step ; for 1 have in my possession a letter from that gen- 
tleman, the existence of which, until this morning, I 
have kept a secret from all my colleagues, under whicli 
I feel myself fully authorized to withdraw his name 
whenever it shall be found necessary to do so to pro- 
mote the interests and secure the harmony of the great 
democratic party of the Union." 

" Mr. Butler," says the reporter, " was here interrupt- 
ed by a general and deafening burst of applause, the en- 
tire convention rising, and waving hands and handker- 
chiefs for some moments." * * * * « Having this 
authority," continued Mr. B., " I took occasion, during 
our recess, to say to my colleagues — and the circum- 
stances in which I stood seemed to impose on me the 
lead in this matter — that, in the present state of the can- 
vass, and with the information I had received as to its 
probable results, I should think it due to the honor of my 
friend, to the harmony of our common democracy, and 
to the interests of the people of New York and of the 
Union — to withdraw his name, unless they advised to 
the contrary. But my colleagues would not throw this 
weight of responsibility on me. They passed a resolu- 
tion authorizing me to withdraw the name of Mr. Van 
Buren, if I should deem it expedient, after consulting our 
friends from other states. On returning to this hall, we 
learned that some of them, anticipating our decision, had 
already cast their votes for another candidate, and <m 
consulting with the others, no doubt is left as to the 
course to be pursued. While, therefore, I return, in the 



1844.] BALTIMORE CONVENTION OF 1844. 4G3 

name of the democracy of New York, to those who 
have sustained by their votes in this place the candidate 
of our state, our most unfeigned and hearty thanks, I do 
now, in the name of the delegation of New York, and 
with the authority of Mr. Van Buren himself, withdraw 
his name from the consideration of this convention as a 
candidate for the presidency." 

Mr. Butler then proceeded to state, that as to the in- 
dividual to whom the vote of New York would be given, 
the resolution of the delegates authorizing him to with- 
draw the name of Mr. Van Buren, which he had pre- 
viously mentioned, directed him to say, that each dele- 
gate would vote according to his own sense of duty. 
He was, however, permitted to state his own next pref- 
erences ; and he thereupon declared that he should vote 
for James K. Polk, of Tennessee. After delivering a 
high encomium on the virtues, talents, and patriotism of 
Mr. Polk, he concluded by saying : 

" Since my arrival in this city I have received a letter 
from the hermitage, in which the apprehensions and re- 
grets occasioned by these untoward circumstances are 
repeatedly referred to, and from which, now that I can 
do it without impropriety, I take the liberty to read the 
closing lines : * May God bless you, my dear friend, and 
preside over your deliberations, and may confidence, on 
the part of all the democracy, again be united on Mr. 
Van Buren. This is the sincere prayer of your friend, 
Andrew Jackson.' 

" Now, Mr. President, though this pi'ayer may not be 
fulfilled in the precise form in which it was expressed 
and desired by him who offered it, it may well be that 
Providence designs to answer it in substance, more sure- 
ly and completely, with James K. Polk as our candidate, 



4f»4 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

than could have been (^one with any other leader. Such, 
I would fain hope — such, sir, as I read them, are the au- 
guries of the present hour. I rely on the nomination in 
which we are now about to unite, for union, harmony, 
success. And I trust that long ere the good old patriot 
of the hermitage is called from the anxieties and cares 
of earth to the rewards of immortality, he may be per- 
mitted to hear from every corner of this glorious Union, 
the shouts of the democracy over the triumph of our 
party and our principles, and the redemption of our 
country in November, 1844." 

We are aware that we do injustice to Mr. Butler by 
giving only detached parts of this speech, but the limits 
prescribed to this work will not permit us to present the 
reader with the whole of it. His ardent friendship for 
Mr. Van Buren, his devotion to the cause of the democ- 
racy of the Union, and the intensity of his feelings were 
evinced by every word he uttered, and produced a 
most thrilling effect upon his audience. In every part 
of the speech he was interrupted by loud and hearty 
cheers ; and " he sat down," says the reporter, " under a 
burst of applause which was continued for a long time." 

Gov. Dickinson, of New York, here rose, asking if 
New York had been called ; and on receiving an af- 
firmative answer, said he would announce the vote in 
one moment. He said he always had confidence in the 
masses, and this convention had behaved so like a mass- 
meeting, that he felt quite at home. New York was now 
in a situation to do what the delegation were sent there 
to do — to help make a nomination for president. He 
would not travel over the ground that had been so well 
occupied by his colleague ; but he must be permitted to 
express the hope that it would not now be a matter of 



1814.] MASS-MEETING IN N. Y. CITY. 400 

regret, on the part of her brethren of other states, that 
New York had a giant's strength, nor did he presume 
that it would be deemed tyrannical if she now used it 
like a giant. New York gave thirty-five votes for 
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and one blank. 

Mr. Walker then rose, and said he hoped he should 
be indulged while he poured out his thankful gratitude 
to the great and ijoble democracy of New York, for the 
generous and patriotic sacrifice which she had made on 
this occasion. " Sir," said he, " that great and noble 
state has not only saved the democracy of the Union, 
but in my soul and conscience I believe it is not too 
much to say, that she has saved the Union. Yes, sir, 
but for her, utterly fruitless would have been the efibrt 
to unite the democracy of the Union." 

About three weeks after the Baltimore Convention 
was held, when Mr. Wright was passing through the 
city of New York on his return from Washington, an 
immensely large democratic mass-meeting was held at 
Castle Garden, in that city, to respond to the Baltimore 
Convention. Mr. Butler was chosen chairman of the 
meeting. In the course of its proceedings, Mr. Wright 
being in attendance, was loudly called for. He was in- 
troduced by the chairman, who took occasion to state to 
the meeting the desire of the delegates, from this and 
several other states, on the withdrawal of the name of 
Mr. Van Buren, to propose to the convention that of Mr. 
Wright ; and that they were prevented from doing so 
by Judge Fine producing his letter, of which a copy has 
already been given. Mr. Butler also alluded to the 
nomination by the convention of Mr. Wright for the 
office of vice-president, and his refusal to stand as a can- 
didate fur that office. 



4G6 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

Mr. Wright, in his response, said to the meeting in 
relation to his refusal to permit his name to be used as a 
candidate for the presidency, the substance of what is 
contained in his letter to Judge Fine. He also gave 
bis reasons for declining the nomination for the vice- 
presidency ; and it is for the purpose of enabling him to 
speak to the reader on that subject himself, that we 
have introduced this account of the proceedings at Cas- 
tle Garden. 

" With respect to the nomination for the second office 
in the government," said Mr. Wright, " which was ten- 
dered to me in a manner so generous, so magnanimous, 
as to be entitled to my everlasting thanks — and these 
feelings of gratitude I feel, and have attempted to ex- 
press to that body as I now do to you — yet I felt myself 
no more at liberty to accept that honor than the former, 
had it been offered ; and an additional reason, peculiar- 
ly strong, interposed itself without our agency. It was 
a new question. I refer to the annexation of Texas to 
the United States. Mr. Van Buren," continued Mr. 
Wright, " had, upon the call of a delegate to that con- 
vention, addressed to the public a letter, giving his opin- 
ions on that question. That letter was not acceptable 
to a large portion of the democracy in one section of the 
country. The opinions he entertained constituted one, 
and a principal one, of the objections to his nomination. 
Upon the most mature consideration of the subject, with 
all the information I did possess, or was able to collect, 
I was compelled to approve of his letter in my judg- 
ment. At the time of the sitting of the convention T had 
made up my mind ; I had no instructions from you, or 
from those I represented. Our state had never acted 
upon that question. I was left to form my own judg- 



1S44.] SPEECH OF MR. WRIGHT. 467 

ment of its merits. That judgment was, that I could not 
vote for the treaty then presented to the senate. That 
vote was soon to be given. It could not be known to 
the convention, and it would have been unfair on my 
part to accept a nomination when I believed that act 
would meet the disapprobation of at least a large num- 
ber of that body. Promptly, then, I declined the nomi- 
nation on that ground. Another point influenced me 
strongly, and I mention it because I fear I may be sub- 
jected to the accusation that a /^i?^ of feeling influenced 
me because my favorite candidate had not been select- 
ed. If I know myself, no such feeling was present with 
me at any moment. But I did not feel that when you and 
the great body of the democracy of the state had expressed 
and sent up to that respectable body, representing the 
democracy of the whole country, a preference for a can- 
didate for the first office, and when that candidate had 
not been selected — I did not feel that I had a right to 
assume, either that I was vour choice for the second 
office in the people's gift, or that I had a right to desig- 
nate the man. 

" I felt further — and if I erred you certainly ought to 
know it — and I certainly stand responsible for the error — 
I feared that we might be charged as having required 
the second nomination to conciliate us to the support of 
the first, differing as it did from that which we preferred. 
And never — no, never, fellow-citizens, could I consent 
to be subjected to such a suspicion, much less could I 
subject your patriotism and attachment to the demo- 
cratic cause and its principles, to such imputation. I 
desired to leave you free, knowing, or at least acting 
under the impression, that my democratic brethren 
throughout the state would honorably and ardently re- 



468 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

deem the pledge they had ever made that they would 
support the nominations of the convention. I desired 
that your support should be given in that frank, and 
manly, and honest manner, and not from the assumed fact 
that an humble fellow-citizen of yours had been placed 
upon the ticket. And now I feel assured it will be so, 
and that Polk and Dallas will receive as cordial a sup- 
port as would Mr. Van Buren, or any other man in the 
country." 

It is almost unnecessary to add, that Mr. Wright's 
reception by the meeting was most cordial, and that his 
speech, of which we have given but a very small part, 
was received with acclamations, and greeted with long 
and loud applause. 

Mr. Polk was apparently brought forward as a peace- 
maker, or mediator between two contending parties, 
consisting of the friends of Mr. Van Buren on one side, 
and a combination of the friends of Messrs. Cass, Wood- 
bury, and Buchanan on the other. But our correspon- 
dent says that the legitimate or original friends of Mr. 
Cass, independent of the party for Texas annexation, 
meaning, we suppose, the southern party, were but ten 
in number, and those of Mr. Woodbury only six. 
Whether the name of Mr. Polk was introduced from 
the impulse of the moment, produced by the existing 
exigency, and entirely without preconcert, or whether 
in anticipation that the state of things must and would 
occur, which actually did happen before his name was 
mentioned, his friends had not, for a long time before the 
convention, formed a project of making him a candidate, is 
and probably ever will be a matter of curious speculation. 
There are one or two considerations which would seem 
to indicate that the latter conjecture is probably correct. 



1844.] POLICY OF SOUTHERN POLITICIANS. 469 

First. The democracy of Tennessee were supposed 
to be the peculiar friends of Mr. Van Buren. They 
had cordially agreed with him in all his measures. Gen. 
Jackson, Mr. Polk, and Mr. Cave Johnson, were the 
leaders, and were presumed to influence the action of 
the democratic party in that state. They were ardent 
personal and political friends of Mr. ^'an Buren, and yet 
the Tennessee convention in the winter of 1844 refused 
to recommend Mr. Van Buren for the presidency. 

Second. After Mr. Polk's election, Mr. Buchanan, 
who, at the convention, influenced the delegation of 
Pennsylvania against Mr. A an Buren, was appointed 
secretary of stale ; Mr. Walker, a most zealous oppo- 
nent in the convention to Mr. V. B., was made secreta- 
ry of the treasury ; Mr. Cave Johnson, the confidential 
fnend of the New York delegation, received the office of 
postmaster-general ; and on Gen. Saunders was confer- 
red a foreign mission. 

It is, however, submitted, that it is more probable that 
the shrewd and sagacious politicians from the South, 
long before the meeting of the convention, foresaw that 
a difference would be produced between the friends of 
the northern candidates, Van Buren, Cass, Buchanan, 
and Woodbury ; that the agitation of their conflicting 
claims would produce much and highly excited feeling 
between the partisans of these candidates ; and when 
that excitement should reach its culminating point, it 
would be the proper moment to bring forward the name 
of a citizen of one of the southern states as the most 
available candidate. Thus they did not settle on any 
individual, but left it for time to develop what southern 
gentleman — say King of Alabama, Walker, or Polk — 
would receive the strongest support of the delegates 

40 



470 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [iSit, 

from the grain-growing states, in the mean time keep- 
ing their own ranks unbroken, ready to give an undivi- 
ded vote for that southern candidate who could rally the 
greatest number of friends from the northern and north- 
western states. Although southern gentlemen are con- 
stitutionally ardent and impetuous, no politicians in the 
world know better how to " bide their time" than they. 
The moment New York declared for Col. Polk they 
were no longer the friends of Gen. Cass, but forthwith 
abandoned him, and with great unanimity supported Mr. 
Polk. This hypothesis seems to us more probable than 
the conjecture that the southern politicians had, previous 
to the convention, concocted their scheme of operations 
solely with a view to the elevation of Mr. Polk. 

" I do not," says the delegate to the Baltimore Con- 
vention from whom we have quoted so much, " charge 
Mr. Van Buren's defeat at the convention entirely to 
the ' slave power,' but to its influence operating upon the 
ambition of other political aspirants for the presidential 
chair, aided by the patronage of the Tyler administra- 
tion, which was lavishly bestowed with a view to pre- 
vent his success." 

After the nomination of Mr. Polk, and before an ad- 
journment for the afternoon, " Mr. Walker," says the 
reporter of the proceedings, " took the floor, and after a 
few remarks on the happy consummation of the morn- 
ing's session, nominated the Hon. Silas Wright as a 
candidate for the vice-presidency, expressing the hope 
that it might be done by acclamation. Mr. W. pro- 
nounced a high eulogium on the moral and political char- 
acter of Silas Wright, declaring him to be the Nestor 
of the Union, of the most pure and disinterested char- 
acter. 



J 844.] MR. WRIGHT AND THE CONVENTION. 471 

" Mr. Dromgoole, of Virginia, rose, as the organ of the 
delegation from that state, to second the nomination of 
Silas Wright. He addressed the convention at great 
length on political topics generally, eulogizing the char- 
acter of Silas Wright as one of the most pure and patri- 
otic statesmen in the Union. 

" The convention then proceeded to ballot for vice- 
president, when the whole vote was cast for Silas 
Wright, with the exception of eight votes from the state 
of Georgia." 

Judge Fine, at the request of the convention, spoke 
to Mr. Wright through the telegraph, informing him of 
his nomination, and inquired of him if he would accept 
and stand as a candidate. To this inquiry Mr. Wright 
promptly answered in the negative. Some persons 
doubting whether the question or answer had not been 
misunderstood. Judge Fine, after stating the unanimity 
with which the nomination had been made, and the 
universal and anxious desire that he would accept, re- 
peated his question. The answer was, " No ; under 
no circumstances." The convention then adjourned 
until the next morning, when Mr. Butler received and 
communicated to the convention the following letter 
from Mr. Wright : 

" Washington, 29th May, 1844. 
"My dear sir, — 

" Being advised that the convention, of which you 
are a member, has conferred upon me the unmerited 
honor of nominating me as a candidate for the office 
of vice-president, will you, if this information be cor- 
rect, present my profound thanks to the convention 
for this mark of confidence and favor ; and say for 



472 POLITICAL' HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 

'me that circumstances, which I do not think it necessary 
to detail to it, but which I very briefly hint to you, [in 
another private letter to Mr. B.,] render it impossible 
that I should, consistently with my sense of public duty 
and private obligations, accept this nomination. 
" I am, with great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Silas Wright. 
" Hon. B. F. Butler." 

After the reading of this letter two or three ballotings 
succeeded without a choice, but the last ballot resulted 
in a pretty unanimous vote for Mr. George M. Dallas, 
[220,] who was thereupon declared duly nominated. 

We will close the account of this convention by an- 
other quotation from our correspondent. Speaking of 
the declension of Mr. Wright, he says : " But a few 
months before he had declined an appointment to the 
bench of the United States Supreme Court, that he 
might be serviceable to his old and cherished friend, 
whom the democracy in almost every state in the Union, 
with singular unanimity, had designated as their candi- 
date for president. He could not accept at the hands 
of a convention an office when that convention had 
disobeyed the declared will of their constituents, and 
sacrificed his friend, who had been dragged there an 
unwilHng victim." 

During the session of the democratic convention, a 
few gentlemen from New York and some of the other 
states held a meeting in Baltimore, and nominated Mr. 
Tyler as a candidate for the presidency, but immediately 
after the nomination of Mr. Polk was announced, he de- 
clined to canvass for the office. 



1844.] WHIG CONVENTION OF 1844. 473 

The whigs appear to have reserved their energies for 
the great national contest at the ensuing presidential 
election. The public sentiment of the party had settled 
upon Henry Clay. In 1840 his nomination would have 
been in accordance with the private feelings and wishes 
of a great majority of the party. But he had been 
beaten in 1832 by the dazzling popularity of Gen. Jack- 
son, and on the issue in relation to the recharter of a 
national bank. Many of the whig politicians were im- 
pressed with the opinion that the renomination of Mr. 
Clay would force upon them the same issue which had 
been decided in '32 ; and they therefore judged that gound 
policy required the selection of another candidate. In 
that opinion a majority of the whig national convention in 
1840 concurred, and Gen. Harrison was made the whig 
candidate. Mr. Clay, however, had many ardent friends 
in the convention, who yielded with great and almost 
insurmountable reluctance. Perhaps there is not an- 
other man in the United States who has so many per- 
sonal friends as Mr. Clay ; and that circumstance, con- 
nected with the recollection of the promptness with 
which he himself concurred in the nomination of Gen. 
Harrison, his efficient and zealous efforts in support of 
the election of his successful rival, and his gallant and 
noble bearing during all the misfortunes which happen- 
ed to the whig party in consequence of the death of 
Gen. Harrison and the defection of Mr. Tyler, produced 
a feeling in his party throughout the nation in favor of 
his nomination in 1844, which was entirely irresistible. 
The effort to resist it would have been as useless as it 
would be to attempt to arrest the fall of water at the 
Niagara cataract. 

The whig national convention was held at Baltimore 

40* 



474 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

on the 1st of May. Two hundred and seventy-five del- 
egates were present, and the venerable Ambrose Spen- 
cer, the able and learned late chief-justice of this state, 
was chosen president, and twenty vice-presidents and 
six secretaries were appointed. Immediately after the 
organization, Henry Clay was nominated for president 
with acclamations the most enthusiastic. 

Some difference of opinion prevailed in the conven- 
tion in relation to the selection of a candidate for the 
vice-presidency. 

John Davis, the present senator and late governor of 
Massachusetts, was supported principally by the dele- 
gates from the eastern states ; Millard Fillmore, by 
those from the state of New York and from some of the 
western states ; and Theodore Frelinghuysen, by those 
from New Jersey and other states. 

It is remarkable that a great number, and we believe 
a majority of the men who have most attracted public 
attention and most influenced public opinion in the state 
of New York, and indeed in several of the other states, 
are self-made men, who have risen to distinction by 
their personal merit and their own individual efforts, 
without the aid of wealth or influential connections. 
This is eminently the case with Mr. Fillmore. We be- 
lieve he did not come to the bar very early in life. At 
any rate, before he had practised law a sufficient length 
of tune to distinguish himself in his profession, he was 
elected to the assembly of this state from the county of 
Erie. He had not been long in public life when he was 
elected a member of congress from the district that 
included the county in which he resided. In congress, 
by his industry, talents, and great moderation and pru- 
dence, he soon acquired a powerful and commanding 



y 



1814.] NOMINATION OF MR. FRELINGHUYSEN. 475 

influence ; and during the last congress, of which he was 
a member, he was chairman of the committee of ways 
and means, a position the most honorable and responsi- 
ble of any in the house of representatives. In that sit- 
uation he discharged so well and so ably his duties, that 
when he left that body perhaps no member of it held a 
higher standing in the house or the nation than he. Mr. 
Frelinghuysen, however, had been a senator of the Uni- 
ted States ; he was the favorite of the whiirs in New 
Jersey, and the party were desirous of strengthening 
themselves in that state ; besides, he was a man of re- 
spectable talents, great erudition, and highly distinguish- 
ed for purity of character, for piety, and all the private 
and social virtues. 

In the convention there were three ballotings for a 
candidate for vice-president. On the last ballot Mr. 
Frelinghuysen received 155 votes, and was declared 
nominated. The whigs did not embarrass themselves 
with the two-third rule, as appears from the following 
statement, which presents the result of the three ballot- 



mgs 



111 ballot. Id billDl. 1<1 ballot 

T. Frelinghuysen 101 118 155 

John Davis 83 74 79 

Millard Fillmore 53 51 40 

John Sergeant 38 32 withdrawn. 

Total, 275 275 374 



476 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Public feeling on the announcement of the Presidential Nominations — 
Native American Party — Liberty Party — Anti-Rent Party — Two sec- 
tions of the Whig Party — Conservative and Radical — Difficulties in the 
selection of a Democratic candidate for Governor — Radical papers de- 
mand the Nomination of Mr. Wright — His unwillingness to be a 
Candidate— His Letter to the Editor of the St. Lawrence Republican — 
Syracuse Convention — Mr. Wright nominated for Governor — Whig 
State Convention — Secret Circular — Mr. Clay's Letters — Their Effect 
— Action of the Native American Party — Also of the Liberty Party — 
Result of the Election — Position and Policy of the Governor elect — Mr. 
Wright resigns his seat in the United States Senate — Governor Bouck 
appoints Messrs. Dickinson and Foster United States Senators in place 
of Governor Wright and N. P. Tallmadge. 

We now return from the brief view we have taken of 
pohtical contests in the nation, to those more particu- 
•arly pertaining to the state of New York. 

When the resuUs of the conventions at Baltimore of the 
two great parties were known to the public, the prospect 
of the whigs was regarded as exceedingly favorable, and 
scarcely any reflecting man doubted of their success. 
These expectations were strengthened by the success 
of the whigs in the Albany city election, at which thev 
succeeded in the election of Friend Humphrey as mayor 
by 624 majority, and in the election of a large majority 
of the common council. 

The democratic convention at Baltimore had passed a 
resolution in favor of the immediate annexation of Texas. 
A large number of influential democrats were opposed to 
that measure, and cordially concurred in the opinion ex- 



1844.] NATIVE AMERICAN PARTY. 477 

pressed by Mr. Van Buren in his letter to Mr. Hammit. 
Many others were opposed to annexation because the 
extension of slavery would, as they believed, be the ef- 
fect of adopting the project. Mr. Clay had, in a speech 
at Raleigh, in North Carolina, declared himself opposed 
to annexation. 

Mr. Polk was a new man, and had never served in 
any of the executive departments of the nation, nor had 
he had any diplomatic experience ; and the whigs, 
through their public journals, tauntingly asked, " Who 
is James K. Polk ?" 

It was also conjectured that the personal and more 
immediate political friends of Mr. Van Buren would be 
disposed to resent his violent rejection at Baltimore 
merely on the ground of his opposition to Texas annex- 
ation. But the whigs were soon compelled to encoun- 
ter difficulties which they did not anticipate. Several 
new parties all at once sprang up, and unfortunately for 
the whigs, drew a much larger number from their ranks 
than from those of the democrats. It will therefore be 
necessary to give an account of those parties, which we 
shall attempt to do with all possible brevity. 

The great influx of foreigners into the city of New 
York for several preceding years, and the facility with 
which our naturalization laws permitted foreigners to 
become voters, had enabled the adopted citizens to hold 
the balance between the whigs and democrats in the 
city elections. The consequence was, that when either 
party obtained a victory, the adopted citizens claimed, 
as was alleged, an unreasonable share of the spoils ; and 
the amount of patronage within the control of the mayor 
and common council of the city of New York was very 
great. This the native citizens thought unreasonable ; 



478 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NfEW YORK. [l844. 

besides, many believed that a residence of five years was 
too short a period to enable a foreigner to acquire a suf- 
ficient knowledge of the true interests of this country and 
its institutions, to qualify him to exercise judiciously the 
functions of an elector. These and other considerations 
induced a large number, including among them a great 
proportion of the wealth, and talent, and respectability 
of the city, to unite and form a new party, under the 
cognomen of "Native Americans." 

Previous to the April election in 1844, the whigs had 
nominated Mr. Morris Franklin, and the democrats Mr. 
Coddington, both worthy and respectable citizens, for 
the office of mayor. The natives held a meeting and 
nominated Mr. Harper, of the celebrated publishing firm 
of " Harper and Brothers." He was elected by a ma- 
jority of 4,316. The natives also elected a majority of 
the aldermen and assistant aldermen of the city. After 
giving the result of this election, the shrewd editor of 
the Albany Argus pronounced it " a virtual extinguish- 
ment of the hopes of the partisans of Mr. Clay in the 
city of New York." How correct this prediction was 
will appear in the sequel. 

Another party, which had grown into considerable 
importance, was known by the name of " The Liberty 
Party." This party grew out of the abolition societies, 
which were formed by associations to promote the im- 
mediate emancipation of slaves ; of its origin we have 
given an account in a preceding volume.* 

This party had one article in their creed which they 
regarded as paramount to all others. Indeed, some of 
their presses claimed that it was a party of " one idea." 



* 2 Political Flistory, p. 455 



1844.] Tllf; LIBERTY PARTY. 179 

They cared not whether a man was called whig or tory, 
democrat or aristocrat; if he would declare that he would 
not vote for a slaveholder, nor for any citizen who would 
vote for a slaveholder, they hailed him as a brother : 
if not, however much he might condemn and oppose 
slavery, he was denounced, and excluded from the 
pale of the party. And yet this party, in propor- 
tion to its numbers, probably contains more men of 
wealth, of talents, and personal worth, than any party 
in the state. The excellent and pure-minded William 
Jay, the zealous, benevolent, and talented Gerrit Smith, 
the eloquent and able, though eccentric, Alvan Stew- 
art, the reverend and learned Professor Brriah Green, 
and a host of others, w^ould add strength and dignity to 
any party in the state or nation. They have, too, sev- 
eral able newspaper editors, among whom we cannot 
refrain from mentioning Westly Bailey, editor of the 
Liberty Press, published at Utica, a man whose tact 
and talents as an editor qualify him to conduct, with 
success, any one of the most important political periodicals 
in the United States. The liberty party, of course, were 
opposed to the annexation of Texas. It was therefore 
evident they could not support Mr. Polk, because he 
had been preferred to Mr. Van Buren for the sole reason 
that he was in favor of annexation, and because the 
convention which nominated him had, with apparent 
unanimity, resolved to support that project as " a great 
American measure." The whigs very naturally con- 
cluded that as Mr. Clay was committed against annex- 
ation, and as the whig party in this state generally 
avowed themselves in favor of universal emancipation, 
that inasmuch as the liberty party could not hope, and 
did not even pretend that they had the powder of elect- 



480 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

ing an abolitionist for president, they would, upon the 
principle of choosing the lesser evil, cast their votes for 
Mr. Clay and for the whig candidate for governor. In 
this expectation they were entirely mistaken. They 
did not then know the indomitable firmness, perhaps we 
may say obstinacy, of those people. Mr. Clay was a 
slaveholder, and some of his supporters were slavehold- 
ers. The abolitionists, therefore, could not and would 
not support him. They early nominated James G. Birney 
for president, who was formerly a slaveholder in Ken- 
tucky, but who, from conscientious motives, had emanci- 
pated his slaves, and migrated to the state of Michigan, and 
Alvan Stewart for governor of the state of New York. 

There was still another party, which, at the election 
in November, 1844, exhibited itself at the polls, which 
is known as the anti-r-ent party. There had, during the 
winter of this year, been several outrages committed by 
the tenants of Gen. Van Rensselaer, in the county of 
Albany, and disorders of a similar character soon ap- 
peared in the counties of Delaware, Columbia, Greene, 
and Rensselaer. The pretence for these outrages was 
the rigid and, as was alleged, unreasonable conditions 
contained in the leases by which the tenants held their 
lands. The history of the acts of violence committed 
by those people, and of their resistance by physical 
force to the execution of civil process, does not come 
properly within the scope of this work.* But there was 



• The history of the anti-rent excitement, and the grievances of which 
the tenantry in some parts of the state complained, are very ably and can- 
didly given by the present firovernor in his proclamation for the pardon of 
Daniel W. Squires, Daniel Northrop, and some fifteen others, w^lio at the 
Court of Oyer and Terminer, in Delaware county, held in the year 1846, 
had been convicted and sentenced to the slate prison for outrages com- 



1844.] ANTI-RENT PARTY. 481 

a large class of citizens of the counties we have men- 
tioned, who entirely disapproved of physical opposition 
^to the laws, and who contended that long leases, and the 
provisions of forfeiture for breaches of trifling and friv- 
olous covenants, and the restraint on alienation by the 
tenant, by means of clauses in leases covenanting that 
heavy fines, under the name of " quarter sales," should 
be paid by the tenant to his landlord upon a transfer of 
the interest of the former in the demised premises, tend- 
ed to prevent useful and permanent improvements of the 
country, and were inconsistent with the genius of our 
government. They also complained that the law which 
authorized the summary collection of rent by distress 
and sale was unreasonably oppressive. They insisted 
that these evils ought to be relieved by legislation, and 
that if effectual relief could be obtained in no other way, 
that the state ought to exercise its right of eminent do- 
main. The people who thus reasoned sought, as they 
had a right to do, to make their voice heard through 
the ballot-box. 

Although in the end the democrats suffered quite as 
much from the anti-rent excitement, and perhaps more 
than the whigs, yet the appearance in the political field of 
the anti-rent party, in addition to the Native Americans 
and abolitionists, was calculated to confuse and derange 
both parties, and especially the whigs, who were not so 
well organized as the democrats. 

About this time (we speak now of the spring and 

mitted in consequence of the anti-rent excitement. The history given by 
Gov. Young on that occasion, which is with great propriety made a part 
ol" his proclamation, is highly interesting, and well worthy of preservation. 
It ought to be read by all who desire to become acquainted with the cause, 
rise, and progress of the anti-rent disturbances. 

41 



482 rOLlTi'CAL niSTOKV of new YOllK. [18-14. 

summer of 1844) there began to appear symptoms of 
division and dissension in the whig party proper. A 
portion of that party viewed with favor some radical 
reforms in the government, which began to be talked of, 
and were inclined to sustain the claims of adopted citi- 
zens, particularly the Irish Catholics ; while the other 
portion were averse to innovation, and extremely jeal- 
ous of encouraging the interference of persons born for- 
eigners with our political concerns. Of the former class 
of whigs, the late Gov. Seward, Mr. Weed, and Mr. 
Greeley of the Tribune, were the most prominent ; and 
of the latter, the New York Courier and Enquirer, un- 
der the direction of Col. Webb, the New York Express, 
under the management of Mr. Brooks, and the Buffalo 
Commercial Advertiser, were the organs. The former 
class, for the sake of brevity, we shall call radical, and 
the latter conservative whigs. 

While the whigs were laboring under these embar- 
rassments, the democrats seemed doomed to encounter 
still greater ditliculties. 

The opposition to the renomination of Gov. Bouck, 
on the part of the state officers and their friends, of 
whom the Albany Atlas was the especial organ, was 
determined and vigorou.s. We have good reasons to be- 
lieve that Mr. Van Buren, previous to the Baltimore 
Convention, desired that Mr. Bouck should be a candi- 
date for re-election. He himself was known to favor 
the radical section, and they indeed were his confidential 
friends. If therefore he, as was then anticipated, should 
be the presidential candidate, he was too good a politi- 
cian not to perceive that a cordial union of the friends 
of Gov. Bouck and the radicals was essential to secure 
the electoral vote of the state of New York ; and if Bouck 



1844.] CONTENTIONS OF THE DEMOCRATS. 483 

should not be nominated, he could not be sure that such 
union would take place. He therefore looked with dis- 
favor on the proceedings of the minority of the legisla- 
tive caucus. We assume this statement to be true, 
rather from the actual condition of things, and the posi- 
tion of Mr. Van Buren, than from any specific facts in 
our possession. That Mr. Wright entertained the views 
we have ascribed to Mr. Van Buren, we have the evi- 
dence in our possession. A distinguished member of 
the hunker party thus writes to the author : 

" I had occasion to go to Washington immediately 
after the adjournment of the legislature, [1844,] and 
while I was there I called upon Mr. Wright. He was 
evidently very much annoyed at the course of Mr. Hoff- 
man and others in the legislative caucus. 'It,' he said, 
' produced an impression abroad that New York was not 
united upon Mr. Van Buren, and was urged by his op- 
ponents to create the impression that he was not an 
available candidate.' I was personally anxious to have 
him succeed, not only because I was friendly to him, 
but also because I knew it would secure the renomina- 
tion of Gov. Bouck. I do not think Messrs. Van Buren 
and Wright liked Mr. Bouck, but in view of Mr. Van 
Buren's nomination they were very desirous to prevent 
any dangerous controversy." * * * " During the win- 
ter and spring," says the same gentleman, " constant and 
repeated efforts were made by Messrs. Dennison, Porter, 
and others, to induce Mr. Wright to be a candidate for 
the office of governor. This he firmly refused." 

In the mean time, the Atlas, and several other papers, 
urged the nomination of Mr. Wright for governor ; and 
at a meeting of the democrats of the third ward of Al- 
bany he was nominated for that office. Mr. Croswell 



48 i POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKAV YORK. [l84i. 

thei'eupon wrote to Mr. Wright informing him of these 
facts, and of an apparent determination in some quarters 
to make him a candidate. Mr. Croswell further express- 
ed to him an opinion, that if he would consent to be a 
candidate Gov. Bouck would withdraw his name.* A 
letter of Gov. Bouck's has been shown to us, in which he 
says, "This [Mr. Croswell's] letter was shown me by Mr. 
Croswell, and I gave my entire assent to the suggestion." 
Gov. Bouck probably thought that he could not, consis- 
tently with his character or honor, yield the field to any 
of those persons who had assailed him ; but that such 
had been the course of Mr. Wright towards him, and 
such was the high standing and character of Mr. W. in 
the state and nation, that he could with propriety de- 
cline in his favor. Mr. Wright in his answer to Mr. 
Croswell, which was received at Albanv earlv in Mav, 
stated that he was apprized of the design to bring him 
forward as a candidate, but that under no circumstances 
would he consent that his name should be used for that 
purpose. In that letter Mr. Wright authorized Mr. 
Croswell to publish the card that was published in the 
Argus about that time, and which is recognised by Mr. 
Wright in his letter to the editors of the St. Lawrence 
Republican, which w^e shall by-and-by copy. 

Still the Atlas, and other radical papers, continued to 
press the nomination of Mr. Wright. We are sure no 
one will suspect that he held one language to the editor 
of the Argus and another to the editors of the Atlas. 
The Atlas, and those with whom it acted, were deter- 
mined, under any and every circumstance, to oppose the 



• We have this information from an uuquestiouable source, but not 
from Mr. Croswell. 



1844.] CONTENTIONrf OF THE DEMOCRATS. 1^5 

nomination of Mr. Bouck. They probably used the 
name of Mr. Wright under the impression that he might 
eventually, as in fact he did, consent to be a candidate ; 
and should he not finally consent, the use of his name 
would strengthen the opposition to the renomination of 
Mr. Bouck. 

This course of the Atlas and its friends was peculiar- 
ly embarrassing to the hunkers, and especially to Gov. 
Bouck. They could say nothing against the nomination 
of Mr. Wright for two reasons : first, because Mr. Bouck 
had offered to support his nomination ; and, secondly, 
because they had declared, and they believed that Mr. 
W. would, under no circumstances, consent to be a can- 
didate. They therefore could neither oppose Mr. 
Wright, nor withdraw the name of Mr. Bouck, while 
the manner in which the name of the former was used 
in the radical newspapers was every day detaching 
friends and supporters from the latter. 

It is confidently alleged by the friends of Gov. Bouck, 
that after the Baltimore Convention Mr. Van Buren 
changed his views, and desired that Mr. Wright should 
be placed at the head of the government of New York. 
It was now urged that Gov. Bouck's retirement was 
called for to unite alF interests. Mr. Bouck felt the full 
force of these considerations. One of his intimate and 
confidential friends writes thus to the author : " To my 
knowledge he (Gov. B.) wished to withdraw from the 
field, but his friends overruled him. They thought he 
could still succeed. But from this time the tide turned 
against him. Mr. Wright's nomination was called for 
by many who had heretofore condemned the war against 
Mr. Bouck, and the fact that he still refused to be a can- 
didate seemed only to strengthen his position with the 

41* 



436 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [iSii. 

public, while it paralyzed any opposition to liiai. No 
one could assail him while he refused to take the field." 
But although Mr. Van Buren may have changed his 
views after the Baltimore nomination, Mr. Wright did 
not, as will appear from his letter written for publication 
in the St. Lawrence Republican, dated so late as the 
first of August. There is so much of modesty, kind 
feeling, and good sense contained in this letter, that we 
are sure the reader will excuse us for copying the whole 
of it. 

Messrs. Hitchcock &. Smith — 

The public papers and my numerous correspondents admon- 
ish me that tlie use of my name, in connection with the office 
of governor of this state, requires some further notice from 
me, and I ask a space in the columns of your paper for that 
purpose. 

Since the meeting of the legislature, in January last, I have 
been frequently solicited to consent to this use of my name, 
by worthy and respected friends, members of that body, and 
others. To all such applications, prompt replies have been 
returned, entirely withholding the consent asked. In one or 
two cases, the announcement of my name in a public paper, 
as a probable candidate for this office, led to a correction, 
made at my instance, and to the published declaration that I 
interdicted that use of my name. 

Not having succeeded in producing a general understanding 
of my position and wishes, by these steps, at about the ad- 
journment of the legislature, I requested the insertion of an 
article in the state paper, in the following language : 

" Mr. Wright not a Candidate for Governor. — We have tieen 
shown a late letter from Mr. Wright, addressed to a friend in this city, in 
which he states explicitly, that he is not a candidate for the office of gov- 
ernor, and that lie shall not be, under any circumstances he is able to an- 
ticipate. Mr. Wright says he does not desire that office upon any terms, 
aud ho certainly shall not knowingly make Imnself the means of difficul- 
ties or divisions in the democratic party of the state, to which he is so 



1844.] LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 4S7 

deeply indebted, at auy time, uj>on any question, or for any object ; and 
certainly not at a time like the present, when a vital national contest de- 
mauds perfect harmony, and the united and patriotic exertions of the 
whole party. He add<, that he has communicated these determinations 
to several members of the legislature, long s iice, and that the proceedings 
of certain meetings of his friends in this county, making use of his name, 
had escaped his notice, until his attention was drawn to them by his cor- 
respondent." 

This I had hoped would have saved me from misconstruc- 
tion, and my friends from misunderstanding, and spared me 
the necessity of further troubling the public upon this point. 

This expectation, however, has not been realized, and the 
recent use of ray name by several meetings and associations 
of republicans, and in various democratic newspapers, is, 1 find, 
producing extensively the impression that my dispositions have 
undergone a change, and that my assent has been given to 
these proceedings. 

It therefore becomes incumbent upon me, as I think, to 
correct this erroneous impression, and to put an end to mis- 
apprehension and misunderstanding, by declaring that my 
opinions, and feelings, and Vvislies have undergone no change ; 
that 1 am not a candidate for the office of governor at the ap- 
proaching election ; and that I have no right, in my judgment, 
to become, and cannot, under any circumstances, consent to be 
made a competitor for the nomination, either be/ore the people, or 
the state convention, against any republican who is, or who may 
become a candidate. 

My private feelings and interests render the office of gov- 
ernor, elevated and honorable as it truly is, undesirable to me ; 
and the many favors I have received from the democracy of 
this state, and the high and responsible office I now hold 
through their kindness and confidence, forbid that I should 
consent to disturb the harmony, or impair the strength of that 
party, by permitting myself to become a competitor for any 
higher or other honors. My dispositions and ray duty coincide 
here, for I have no arabition for raore difficult or weighty re- 
sponsibilities than those pertaining to the place I now hold. 
Conscious as I am that those great responsibilities have been 



483 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

very imperfectly discharged, I cannot feel that degree of self- 
confidence necessary to voluntarily encounter greater. 

I have felt an extreme, perhaps culpable reluctance to ad- 
dress the pubUc in this manner, upon this subject. My many 
obligations to the democratic party of this state present, how- 
ever, u plain and sufficient reason for this discharge of a man- 
ifest duty. With harmony of feeling and concert of action, 
the success of that party in the pending caiivass, is not, iii my 
judgment, doubtful. The manner in which the national nom- 
inations have been received and are supported, affords the most 
gratifying evidence that any state candidates, who shall re- 
ceive the harmonious nomination of the state convention, will 
meet with an equally unanimous and warm reception from the 
entire democracy of the state, and with a triumphant election. 

To promote this harmonious and successful result by all 
honorable means in my power, is my imperious duty, while to 
permit myself to become the instrument of interrupting that 
harmony, or of endangering that success, would be unpardon- 
able ingratitude. 

This communication should have appealed in the last num- 
ber of your paper, but my absence for several days, and very 
pressing calls upon my time, after my return, prevented my 
giving the proper attention to this subject, until it was too 

late for that publication. 

Silas Wright. 
Canton, August 1, 1844. 

The above letter, as originally written, signed, and 
forwarded from Canton to Ogdensburgh, did not contain 
the words in the seventh paragraph — "Against any 
republican who is or who may become a candidate." It 
will be perceived that by expunging those words, the 
refusal to be a candidate for the office of governor was 
unconditional and peremptory. The letter, before its 
publication, came into the hands of Judge Fine, who, 
after consulting the Hon. P. King and other confiden- 
tial friends, proposed the alteration which would render 



1811.] 



LETTERS or MR. WRIUilT. 480 



the refusal conditional, uud to the alteration thus pro- 
posed and urgently pres.^ed by his friends, Mr. Wright 
at last consented.* 



* Since writing what is contained in the text, the author has been fa- 
vorrd with two original letters, written by ^Ir. Wright to Judge Fine on 
the snbjpct of the alteration of h'.i letter to the St. Lawrence Republican. 
We give copies of both of them. Tiiey appear to have been written 
hastily. The fust, in which he yields his consent to the alteration pro- 
posed by JuHife Fine, is without date ; but it must have been written be- 
fo!-e tliHt dated 8th of August. a.s will be p'^rceived by perusing both notes. 

" My Deaii Sir : — Your two notes came this morning, and I thank you 
for them. Your proposed correction of the article is im|)ortant, and I ann 
glad you see no objection to it thus corrected. My position now is made 
one of doubt, us nias^-.s uf letters written tu me show, it siiould not be 
that — and I think I ahould go as far as I can go, and not say I will 
not nrrept a nomination under any rirruvislanrex ; I iroi/ld be most 
glad to say that, but perhaps I have no right to go so far ; yet •! think 
I have a right to say, that I will not be thrown into the position of seem- 
ing to r.nmppte for the nomination against any candidate. 

" I return Mr. Page's letter, and thank you for its perusal. It and the 
letter of Judge Willard are a fair exhibition of the diJlerent impressions 
and judgments which honest and good men form as to my position, and 
that it may well embarrass me. 

" In haste, I am truly yours, 

" S11.AS Wright. 
" Hon. John Fine." 

' Canton, 8th August, 1844. 

" My Dear Sir: — I received the paper yesterday, with the communi- 
cation, and have been very busy for the last two days in replying to my 
numerous letters upon that embarrassing subject, making, of course, the 
published letter the answer in all cases This strife between personal in- 
clination and interest and public duty, disturbs a man's judgment and 
makes him a very unsafe counsellor for himself. At such times it is that 
he requires frank, faithful, and disinterested friends ; and I really do not 
think there ever was a man, in so remote a location from the great cen- 
tre of politics, so well supplied as I have been upon this occasiou. 

" To you I owe especial thanks for the ready and frank manner in 
which you have manifested your willingness to devote your time and mind 
to the questions presented, and to give me your opinion without reserve. 
(All our friends about you, Messrs. Perkins, Gillet, King, and Myers, have 



100 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEU' VORK. [l844. 

It was represented to him that the result of the elec- 
tion in New York would decide, as in fact it did decide, 
the fate of the democratic party in the nation ; that un- 
less he would consent to he a candidate, such were the 
{peculiar circumstances then existing, that the election 
i:i the state and nation would inevitably be lost to the 
democratic party ; and that with the use of his name no 
reasonable doubt of a successful issue could be enter- 
tained. These considerations wrung from him a reluc- 
tant consent. 

Let us here pause for one moment. Mr. Wright, 
from motives of delicacy to his friend, which few can 
appreciate, had refused to be a candidate in the conven- 
tion for the office of president. He had declined the 
appointment of judge of the Supreme Court of the Uni- 
ted States ;. he had been nominated for the office of 
vice-president, and declined being a candidate, prefer- 
ring a seat in the senate to a station which is next 
in dignity to the first office in the nation ; the nom- 
ination of Mr. Polk, the man individually who was to 
derive the greatest benefit from the proposed sacrifice, 
was made against the avowed wishes of Mr. Wright. 
Nothing could have been more uncongenial to his feel- 
ings than the office of governor of the state of New 
York. He knew it would plunge him into the vortex 

taken the same generous course, as I doubt not Mr. Judson would have 
done had he been at home. Will you assure those gentlemen that I can- 
not too sincerely thank them, and that I will try to remember the obli- 
gation, though I may never be able to repay it) 

" How the public may appreciate our conclusions, time must deter- 
mine. It is enough for us that our motives are good, and that we acted 
as we thought right, under all circumstances. 

" With great respect, 

" I am truly yours, 
" Hon. John Fike." " Silas Wright. 



1844. J MFi. WRIGHT A\D MR. BOICK. 4?-l 

of New York politics, and expose him to the jealousy of 
both, or the bitter persecution of one of the contending 
factions which prevailed here. A seat in the senate of 
the United States was of all public stations the most 
agreeable to him. There he was at home. There he 
was surrounded bv friends who esteemed and admired — 
indeed, who more than admired, who loved him. That, 
he well knew, was a theatre for which his talents and 
habits best fitted him ; it was truly the " field of his fame 
and his glory." Yet at the call of the democratic party 
he did leave that field for a station which of all others 
he most disliked, and the responsibilities and duties of 
which he must have contemplated with apprehensions 
the most painful. 

We doubt whether a more striking instance of self- 
sacrifice and devotion to friends can be found in ancient 
or modern political history. There is a moral beauty 
and sublimity in the conduct of Mr. Wrifjlit on this oc- 
casion, which, considered in connection with his course 
in relation to the action of the Baltimore Convention, 
rival any thing exhibited in the most virtuous days of 
Greece and Rome.* 

The tojiowing propositions seem to be established ; 
and if so, both Mr. Bouck and Mr. Wright conducted, 
in relation to the gubernatorial election in 1841, with 
perfect sincerity, and in acrovdance with the strictest 
principles of honor. 

1. That in April Mr. Bouck offered to withdraw his 
name if Mr. Wright would consent to be a candidate. 

2. That Mr. Wright peremptorily refused. 

3. That notwithstanding his refusal, the papers op- 

• See the uote at the end of the volume. — Mr. Wright's letter to Judg« 
Allen. 



492 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

posed to the nomination of Gov. Bouck continued to 
press that of Mr. Wright. 

4. That after the national convention Mr. Wright re- 
fused to be a candidate ; and so late as August, wrote a 
letter, intended for publication, peremptorily refusing a 
nomination, which, at the pressing solicitation of his best 
and truest friends, and in deference to their opinion that 
the vita! interest of the democratic party in the state 
and nation demanded that he should yield a compliance 
with their request, was so modified as to render his re- 
fusal conditional. 

5. That after the publication of this letter, Governor 
Bouck desired that his name should be withdrawn, but 
was overruled by his friends, who insisted that he could 
not honorably, at that period, abandon the competition. 

From the time of the publication of Mr. Wright's let- 
ter of the 1st of August, the tide of public opinion rapid- 
ly increased in favor of his nomination for governor ; 
and in many of the county conventions held to choose 
delegates for the Syracuse Convention, the delegates 
elected were instructed to support him as the candidate 
for governor. That convention was held on the 4th of 
September, and the various counties in the state were 
fullv represented in it. 

Mr. Heman J. Redfield, of Genesee, a hunker, was, 
it is said, at the request of Mr. Wright, unanimously 
elected president, and Judge Denio, of Oneida, and Gen. 
Lawyer, of Schoharie, with six others, were chosen vice- 
presidents. Governor Bouck had instructed a judicious 
friend, who was a delegate, to withdraw his name from 
competition if he should think proper ; and as it was 
soon ascertained that a large majority of the delegates 
were for nominating Mr. Wright, the personal friends 



1844.] DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 493 

of that gentleman urged that the name of Gov. Bouck 
should be withdrawn, they having, as was supposed, rea- 
son to believe that Mr. Wright would be dissatisfied if 
his name should be used in opposition to " any republi- 
can." But the delegate to whom Gov. Bouck had 
given this discretionary authority, upon consulting with 
the other friends of Mr. B., was advised against with- 
drawing his name. The convention therefore proceed- 
ed to a ballot, which resulted in 95 votes for Wright 
and 30 for Bouck ; whereupon Mr. Seymour, one of the 
most distinguished and zealous friends of the renomina- 
tion of Gov. Bouck, moved that the nomination of Mr. 
Wri<i;ht should be declared unanimous, and the resolu- 
tion was adopted without a dissenting vote. 

Mr. Wright had expressed a wish that in case of his 
own nomination, Mr. D. S. Dickinson should be nomina- 
ted for re-election as lieutenant-governor ; but he pe- 
remptorily refused to be a candidate, whereupon Addison 
Gardiner, late circuit judge of the eighth circuit, was 
unanimously nominated. 

Benjamin F. Butler and Daniel S. Dickinson were 
nominated state presidential electors, and a list of elec- 
tors from the several congressional districts was also put 
in nomination. Jonas Earl, Jr., Daniel P. Bissell, Na- 
thaniel Jarvis, and Stephen Clark, were nominated canal 
commissioners. By the resolutions adopted by the con- 
vention, they denounced a high tariff, a national bank, 
the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of publir. 
lands, &c., and they approved the resolutions adopted 
by the Baltimore Convention. They do not allude to 
the annexation of Texas, other than by expressing their 
approbation of the principles put forth by the Baltimore 
C'onvention. They probably designedly avoided any 

42 



494 POLITICAL HISTORY OF XEVV YORK. [l84i, 

express allusion to that "great American measure," be- 
cause, among other reasons, their candidate for governor 
had voted against the Texas treaty in the senate, and 
since his return from Washington, and since the Balti- 
more Convention, had declared in a speech delivered at 
Watertown to a mass meeting, that he was opposed to 
annexation. The convention closed their resolutions with 
one of thanks to Gov. Bouck and Lieutenant-governor 
Dickinson, " for their faithful administration of the vari- 
ous and responsible duties committed to their charge." 

The convention dissolved in great harmony, and with 
high hopes of success. Its result undoubtedly gave the 
friends of Polk new confidence in the state and nation. 
In the intense interest excited by the presidential con- 
test, the divisions in the democratic ranks were lost sight 
of, if they were not healed up. It is not necessary to 
allude to that contest in this connection, except to say 
that Gov. Wright was faithfully supported by the friends 
of Gov. Bouck. The contrary has never been intima- 
ted. In the county of Oneida, where Mr. Bouck's friends 
were in the ascendant, and where some of those who 
had advocated Mr. Wright's nomination, were opposing 
a part of the local ticket, he received a higher vote than 
any candidate on the ticket. This was the more re- 
markable, as a long section of the unfinished Black 
River Canal passed through the democratic section of 
the county, and the inhabitants were very much exas- 
perated by the suspension of its construction. 

The whig state convention was held on the llth day 
of September, at Syracuse. There was a very full 
attendnnce of delegates. Francis Granger, the late 
postmaster-general, was chosen president. Millard 
Fillmore, of Buffalo, was nominated for governor, and 



1944.] WHIG STATE CONVENTION. 495 

Samuel J. Wilkin, of Orange county, for lieutenant- 
governor. These nominations, and indeed the nomina- 
tions of all the other candidates, were made apparently 
with perfect unanimity, and without a ballot. This 
circumstance leads to the inference that an informal 
meeting of the delegates must have been previously 
held, in which a free interchange of sentiments had 
taken place between them. Of Mr. Fillmore we have 
spoken in another place ; but we cannot omit to avail 
ourselves of the present occasion to express our high 
respect for the talents, integrity, and personal merit of 
Mr. Wilkin. All who know him (and the author has 
known him from his early youth) we are sure will con- 
cur with us in the exalted opinion we entertain of his 
talents and merit. 

The convention also nominated presidential electors. 
The state electors whom they designated were Willis 
Hall and John A. Collier. They terminated their labors 
by nominating Samuel Works, Spencer Kellogg, Elijah 
Rhoades, and Joseph H. Jackson, canal commissioners. 

The nomination of Henry Clay for president was ap- 
proved, and reiterated with acclamations; and an address 
to the electors and a series of resolutions were adopted 
and published. One of the resolutions expresses a deci- 
ded approval of the tariff as it then was, and another 
condemns and denounces the annexation of Texas as un- 
constitutional, and as a project which, in the judgment of 
the convention, would be followed by consequences deep- 
ly injurious to the country, and dangerous to the Union. 

Never was an electioneering campaign conducted with 
more spirit and energy than that of 1844. Both parties 
entered the field well organized, and animated with high 
hopes. The recollection of their success in 1840 in- 



198 poi.rncAL history of new vork. [1844. 

spired the wliigs with courage ; while a bitter feeHng of 
resentment for what they deemed the treachery of Mr. 
Tyler, which had snatched from them the fruit.s of their 
victory at the last presidential election, and their ardent 
attachment to their chivalric and gallant leader, kindled 
,'i /eal which spread through all ranks of the party, 
which aj)proached almost to fanaticism. Indeed, there 
are some traits in Mr. Clay's character eminently calcu- 
lated to excite in his supporters a species of enthusiasm. 
The ardor of his feelings, his open, frank, and gallant 
bearing towards friends and foes, and his unsurpassed 
eloquence, have, as has already been remarked, procured 
him a greater number of devoted and ardent personal 
friends than any other man in the Union. 

On the other hand, the democratic party felt that their 
all was at stake. The radicals had succeeded in procu- 
rinof the nomination of their most favorite candidate for 
governor ; and the hunkers having left the Syracuse con- 
vention, if not with kind feelings towards the radicals, 
at least in good temper, and with sentiments of esteem 
and regard for Mr. Wright, seemed anxious to prove to 
the radicals, by more than usual efforts, that they were 
not governed by factious motives, but would exert all 
their energies in support of the common cause. Mr. 
Van Buren, too, had in several communications which 
were published, declared his acquiescence in the nom- 
ination of Mr. Polk, and his determination to support 
him. 

Immensely large mass meetings were held by the re- 
spective parties in all the large towns, and in almost 
every county in the state. These meetings were ad- 
dressed by the most eminent orators in the state, and 
sometimes by distinguished statesmen from abroad. 



]844.] MASS MEETING:?. 497 

Mr. Wright, before h ^ became the gubernatorial can- 
didate, Lieutenant-governor Dickinson, ami many other 
eminent democrats, attended the mass meetings, and 
addressed the people. On the other hand, Mr. Webster, 
Mr. Collier, and other able and talented men, attended 
and addressed large masses of whigs. We have, on a 
former occasion, expressed our doubts whether these 
gatherings ought to be encouraged ;* but whether 
those doubts were well or ill founded, it is very certain 
that great tact and skill, and ability in reasoning, and 
many specimens of splendid and thrilling eloquence 
were exhibited on these occasions. Besides the politi- 
cians and statesmen holding the high position of those 
we have mentioned, several voung men, not before 
known in political life, devoted much of their time in 
attendance on the mass meetings, and delivered ad- 
dresses with great effect, accompanied with all the charms 
and power of eloquence. Among 1 he most distinguished 
of these was John W. Fowler on the whig side, and 
Gansevoort Melville and James W. Nye on the dem- 
ocratic. 

But in the progress of the campaign, both parties were 
compelled to encounter some serious and embarrassing 
difficulties. 

It will be recollected that the ostensible, and perhaps 
the real cause of the preference given by the Baltimore 
Convention to Mr. Polk over Mr. Van Buren, was that 
the former was in favor of the annexation of Texas, and 
the latter was opposed to it, and that that convention 
adopted a resolution that the Texan nation ought imme- 
diately to be annexed to the United States. Besides 



* 2 Political History, p. 527. 

■ 42* 



498 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 

those distinguished men, Van Buren and Wright, who 
were publicly committed against that project, which 
the Baltimore Convention was pleased to denominate 
"a great Amei'ican measure," there were many other 
influential and worthy republicans who entirely concur- 
red with those gentlemen in opinion, and who could not 
perceive why a simple resolution adopted by the indi- 
viduals assembled at Baltimore should change the merits 
or the character of the question. The masses of the 
democratic party also, though they desired an extension 
of the national territory, did not view with favor the ex- 
tension of slavery ; and many of them believed that the 
annexation of Texas would not only " diffuse'' but in- 
crease slavery. 

In this state of the question some highly respectable 
and influential democratic citizens of the city of New 
York, in connection with the then attorney-general, who 
were opposed to annexation, but who yet were extreme- 
ly solicitous for the election of Mr. Polk in preference 
to Mr. Clay, knowing that the question whether Texas 
should be annexed must be decided by congress, con- 
cocted a scheme of procuring a united, but silent, quiet 
action of the anti-annexationists in the state, in the se- 
lection and election of members of congress who accord- 
ed with them Jn sentiments ; while at the same time they 
desired that the most vigorous efforts should be made to 
promote the success of the democratic electoral ticket 
for president.* In execution of this project they ad- 
dressed a circular letter to several individuals, located 
in different parts of the state, who, they had reason to 

* They also proposed that they, together with the persons to whom 
they forwarded these views, should jointly address the people, declaring 
their reasons for supporting Mr. Polk, wliile they opposed annexation. 



1344.1 THE SECRET CIRCULAR. 401) 

believe, entertained opinions similar to their own on the 
subject of annexation. As this letter has been the sub- 
ject of much, and in some instances severe newspaper 
animadversions, a copy of it is here inserted. 

CONFIDENTIAL. 

Sir — You will doubtless agree with us, that the late Balti- 
more Convention placed the democratic party at the Xorth 
in a position of great ditficulty. We are constantly reminded 
that it rejected Mr. Van Bui-en and nominated Mr. Polk, for 
reasons connected with the immediate annexation of Texas — 
reasons which had no relation to the principles of the party. 
Nor was that all. The convention went beyond the authority 
delegated to it;? members, and adopted a resolution on the 
subject of Texas, (a subject not before the country when they 
were elected, upon which, therefore, they were not instructed,) 
which seeks to interpolate into the party code a new doctrine, 
hitherto unknown among us, at war with some of our estab- 
hshed principles, and abhorrent to the opinions and feelings of 
a great majority of northern freemen. 

In this position, what was the party at the North to do ? 
Was it to reject the nominations and abandon the contest, or 
should it support the nominations, rejecting the untenable doc- 
trine interpolated at the convention, and taking care that their 
support should be accompanied with such an expression of 
their opinion as to prevent its being misinterpreted ? The lat- 
ter alternative has been preferred, and we think wisely ; for 
we conceive that a proper expression of their opinion will save 
their votes from misconstruction, and that proper efforts will 
secure the nomination of such members of congress as will re- 
ject the unwarrantable scheme now pressed upon the country. 

With these views, a,ssuming that you feel on this subject as 
we do, we have been desired to address you, and to invite the 
co-operation of yourself and other friends throughout the stale — 

1st. In the publication of a joint letter, declaring our pur- 
pose to support the nominations, rejecting the resolutions re- 
specting Texas. 



500 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [1844. 

2d. In promoting and supporting, at the next election, the 
nomination for congress of such persons as concur in these 
opini(}ns. 

If your views in this matter coincide with ours, please write 
to some one of us, and a draft of the proposed letter will be 
forwarded for examination. 

Very respectfully, 
George P. Barker, William C. Bryant, 

J. W. Edmonds, David Dudley Field, 

Theodore Sedgwick, Thomas W. Tucker, 

Isaac Townsend. 

P. S. — A copy of this circular has been sent to the follow- 
ing gentlemen : — Michael Hoffman, Albert H. Tracy, Hiram 
Gardiner, Addison Gardiner, Samuel Selden, Henry Selden, 
Ashley Sampson, J. Osborn, Hiram Gray, Jared N. Wilson, 
James M. Smith, Thos. G. Talcot, William Allen, Freeborn G. 
Jewett, Daniel Chandler, Hiram Denio, John Tracy, Jabez D. 
Hammond, John 1. De Graff, N. S. Benton, Preston King, 
Riinsom Gillet, Samuel Young, L. Stetson, James B. Spencer, 
David L. Seymour, David Buel, Harmanus Bleecker, A. C. 
Flacrcp, Robert McLellan, R. D. Davis, James Powers, Archi- 
bald Niven, Nathaniel Jones, John W. Lawrence — and will be 
sent to any other person you may wish. 

It will be noticed that this letter was marked " confi- 
dential," and it has therefore been denominated the " se- 
cret circular." We do not know what were the motives 
which induced the signers of this communication to 
mark it confidential, but we believed then, as we do 
now, that their object was to prevent any agitation of 
the public mind on the subject, and thereby weaken 
the democratic strength by the appearance of a division 
in the party, unless the persons to whom it was ad- 
dressed should advise the adoption of the measure pro- 
jected. It would seem that a majority of those persons 
did not think the execution of the proposed plan advisa- 



1844.] THE SECRET CIRCULAR. 501 

ble, for the joint letter was never issued ; but that which 
was intended to be signed and circulated, was after- 
wards published by Mr. Bryant in the Evening Post. 
It merely contained the sentiments expressed in the cir- 
cular, more fully developed. It is, perhaps, proper for 
the author to state, that he informed the gentlemen 
whose names were attached to the circular that he cor- 
dially agreed with them in their opposition to the annex- 
ation of Texas, and would not withhold his name from 
a written statement expressing that opposition ; but he 
advised against the publication of the joint letter, be- 
cause it seemed to him inconsistent to condemn a meas- 
ure, and yet support the man who was nominated as a 
candidate for the first office in the nation solely for the 
avowed reason that he was in favor of that very measure. 

We will only add, that we have reason to believe that 
all the signers of the circular, and all the persons to 
whom it was addressed, (we know most of them did,) 
supported with zeal and energy the election of Mr. Polk, 
with the exception of a single individual. That indi- 
vidual was Jabez D. Hammond, who declined voting at 
all for presidential electors. 

But although the signers of the circular, and those to 
whom it was addressed, generally supported Mr. Polk 
in good faith, there were many among the masses who 
felt great difficulty in voting for the nominee of a con- 
vention who had declared the annexation of Texas to 
be a great American measure. The whigs, therefore, 
not without reason, cherished the hope that many of 
these conscientious men would vote for Mr. Clay ; but 
this Mr. Clay, by his own indiscreet conduct, to use the 
mildest term, in a great degree, if not wholly, prevented. 
Before Mr. Van Buren's letter to Mr. Hammit was 



ri?2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [1844. 

published, Mr. Clay had published a letter, in which he 
stated — 

" I con.sider the annexation of Texas, at this time, 
■without the assent of Mexico, as a measure compromi- 
sing the national character, involving us certainly in 
war with Mexico, probably with other foreign powers, 
dangerous to the integrity of tlie Union, inexpedient in 
the present financial condition of the country, and not 
called for by any general expression of public opinion." 

Had Mr. Clay rested on this frank and explicit decla- 
ration, we verily believe he 'would have received the 
vote of the state of New York for president ; hut the 
whole slaveholding interest at the South, as well whig 
as democratic, was anxiously solicitous that Texas 
should be made a part of the Union, and no doubt many 
of his most ardent political and personal friends in that 
section of the Union were continually pressing him to 
vary his position in relation to the Texas question. Mr. 
Clay was desirous to secure all the whig votes. In an 
evil hour, (on the 1st day of July,) in a communication 
to one of his friendly correspondents in Alabama, a 
state in which he never did and never will receive 
a vote, he stated, — " As to the idea of courting the 
abolitionists, it is perfectly absurd. No man in the 
United States has been half as much abused by them as 
1 have been." * * * " Periionally I could have no 
objection to the annexation of Texas, but," &c. He af- 
terwards wrote a third letter, in which he attempted to 
show that he had been guilty of no inconsistency in the 
sentiments expressed in these two letters ; but this last 
epistle did not better his position. In consequence ol 
these letters, Mr. Clay, though lie had many personal 
friends in this state, received but very few, if any, dem- 



1844.] NATIVE AMERICANS AND ANTI-RENTERS. 503 

ocratic votes here. Those democrats who thought it 
wrong to vote for Mr. Polk, on account of the Texas 
question, either decHned voting for presidential electors, 
or voted the abolition ticket. 

The Native Americans in the city of New York and 
in the county of Kings, so far as related to the election 
of members of assembly, congress, and the senate, sus- 
tained the organization they had formed in the prece- 
ding spring at the charter elections ; but by mutual con- 
sent among them it was understood that in relation to 
the presidential and gubernatorial election, each mem- 
ber of the native association should vote according to 
his own predilections as respected the two great con- 
tending parties in the state. The result was, that their 
candidates for the assembly, senate, and a majority of 
the members of congress from the city of New York, 
were elected. By means of this success, William W. 
Campbell, the author of the " Annals of Tryon County," 
a man of great worth and merit, was elected to congress, 
and George Folsom, a gentleman distinguished for his 
literary attainments, and much respected for his private 
virtues, was chosen a member of the senate of this state. 

The Anti-renters pursued a very politic and wise 
course. In counties where they were uncertain whether 
they had a plurality of votes over both the whig and 
democratic parties, they selected such of the candidates 
nominated by either of those parties as they had i-ea- 
son to believe would be most favorable to their views, 
and gave the persons thus selected every anti-rent vote. 
By this course of policy they, holding as they did the 
balance of power, controlled the election in Albany, Co- 
lumbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, and 
.Sullivan counties, and brought into the assembly from 



504 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 

those counties such men as favored and supported their 
views, so far as they could be supported consistent with 
the constitution of this state and of the United States. 
Two of the most efficient and able members of the as- 
sembly of 1845 were brought into that assembly by 
means of the votes of the anti-renters. We allude to 
Ira Harris, of Albany county, and Wm. H. Van Schoon- 
hoven, of Rensselaer county. 

The Abolition, or Liberty Party, adhered resolute- 
ly to their "one idea,"' and refused all compromise. It 
was well known that they held the power, beyond all 
question, (which was proved by the result of the elec- 
tion,) of giving Mr. Clay the votes of this state, and thus 
preventing the annexation of Texas, and the extension 
of slavery, which every one foresaw must be the conse- 
quence of annexation. The whigs, therefore, continued 
to believe, until after the votes were actually canvassed, 
that inasmuch as no man believed that this party could 
elect Mr. Birney, a majority of them would eventually 
cast their votes for Mr. Clay. In this expectation they 
were disappointed. Not an individual of the aboli- 
tionists voted for Mr. Clay. They argued that if the 
whigs were sincere in their opposition to annexation, 
they ought to vote for Mr. Birney, who had never 
equivocated in relation to that question. " Why," said 
they, " have we not as good right to require you to vote 
for Mr. Birney as you have to demand our votes for Mr. 
Clay ?" It is difficult in theory to resist the force of 
this reasoning. But the actual consequence was, that 
although the abolitionists had a greater numerical force, 
and probably possessed more wealth and more talent 
than either the Anti-renters or Native Americans, while 
those last- mentioned parties, by their management, were 



1844.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 5G5 



n 



ably represented, both in the national and state legisla- 
tures, the Liberty Party did not elect a solitary individ- 
ual to represent their views in either of those bodies. 

This great contest eventuated in the triumph of the 
dennocratic party in the state and nation. Mr. Polk ob- 
tained, by means of the thirty-six votes given by New 
York, sixty-six electoral votes more than Mr. Clay. 
Mr. Wright's majority over Mr. Fillmore was 10,033 ; 
and the majority for the democratic candidate for lieu- 
tenant-governor and canal commissioners was between 
nine and ten thousand ; while the majority on the elec- 
toral ticket over that for Mr. Clay, was less than five 
thousand. In the city of New York Mr. Wright ob- 
tained a majority of 3,386 over Mr. Fillmore, the favorite 
of the whigs of that city, while Mr. Polk's majority was 
only 1,734. This disparity must have been produced 
by a difference of opinion in respect to that "great 
American measure," the annexation of Texas. 

The Native Americans succeeded in electing Mr. 
Folsom to the senate in the first district, while the demo- 
crats elected their candidates in all the other districts in 
the state, except the eighth. The names of the senators 
elected were — George Folsom, from the first district, in 
the place of Mr. Scott ; Robert Dennison was re-elected 
from the second district ; John P. Beekman was chosen 
from the third district, in the place of Mr. Strong ; Au- 
gustus C. Hand, from the fourth, in the place of Mr. 
Lawrence ; Enoch B. Talcott, from the fifth, in the 
place of Mr. Foster ; George D. Beers, from the sixth, 
in the place of Mr. Piatt; Henry J. Sedgwick, from the 
seventh, in the place of Mr. Rhoades ; and Carlos Em- 
mons, from the eighth, in the place of Mr. Works. 

To the assembly seventy democrats and forty-four 

43 



506 POLITICAL UISTORY OF NEW YOUK. [iSti. 

whigs were elected, the rest being Native Americans and 
anti-renters ; but several members, who were denom- 
inated whigs or democrats, according to the parties to 
which they respectively were reputed to belong, were 
elected by the balance-power of the anti-renters, and on 
all ([uestions affecting the interest of that party voted 
with the anti-renters. 

Our sagacious radical correspondent from Albany, 
from whom we have before several times quoted, says: 
" When the result of the election was known, the radi- 
cals were in an excess of joy. Mr. Polk was thought 
to be a sincere friend of the sub-treasury, opposed to a 
United States bank and a national debt, and in favor of 
a revenue tariff. Mr. Wright was all that the demo- 
cratic heart could wish, love, admire, and almost wor- 
ship. Bat here his errors of policy commenced. His 
first efforts were to conciliate the Bouck men." If this 
efibrt at conciliation was, as our correspondent thinks, 
a political error in Gov. Wright, it was one which 
every man, situated as he was, would have been likely 
to commit. Gov. Wright had not personally mingled 
much with the Albany politicians for several years. 
He knew that the hunkers had been defeated at the Sy- 
racuse convention, but he also knew that in the tremen- 
dous conflict from which the democratic party had just 
emerged, the hunkers had fought side by side with the 
radicals, and with equal sincerity and zeal, and he found 
among them many of his old personal and political 
friends. He believed that the heart-burnings and enmity 
which had prevailed between the two sections at the 
time of the adjournment of the legislature, had been 
quieted and forgotten in the life-and-death struggle be- 
tween the two great parties which had recently termi- 



1844.] ERROR OF MR. WEIGHT. 507 

nated. Was it then wonderful that he sliould make an 
effort to restore peace between those who ought to be 
friends ? But he was not aware of the deep-seated bit- 
terness that still rankled in the breasts of fnany belong- 
ing to each section. Gov. Wright, when he came to 
Albany, shortly after the election in November, became 
a temporary guest of Mr. Erastus Corning, who, we 
have seen, was a leading and influential hunker ; and so 
jealous were the politicians of that period, that many 
radicals viewed that circumstance, trifling as it was, with 
suspicion. 

We are inclined to think that our correspondent, con- 
sidering the real state of things — of which, by the way, 
Mr. Wright could not have been apprized — is in the 
right, and that the effort at conciliation was in vain, and 
therefore impolitic. It may have been that such was 
the fixed and settled hostility between the hunkers and 
radicals that the time for a temporizing policy had pass- 
ed, and that Gov. Wright should either have said to the 
radicals, that, if they were his friends, they must cease 
their hostility to the hunkers — that he should regard 
any attempt, either by oral or printed declarations, to 
impair their political standing, as an act of war against 
himself; or that he should have taken open and decided 
ground in favor of the radicals, as his only legitimate 
political friends, and denounced the hunkers. But our 
correspondent points out one political error of Mr. 
Wright in which we entirely concur with him. 

Mr. Wright was a senator of the United States, and 
had a right to retain his seat until the first day of Jan- 
uary, 1845. He should have retained it, and gone to 
Washington at the meeting of congress on the first 
Monday in December. His great popularity in the na- 



508 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOUK. l1844. 

tion, the important and decisive services which had been 
rendered by the use of his name and influence in the 
late presidential election, and the numerous ardent and 
powerful friends he would have met at Washington, 
would have enabled him to exercise a controlling in- 
fluence in the formation of Mr. Polk's cabinet. In- 
stead of this, he made up his mind not to resume his 
seat in the senate, nor visit Washington, before he would 
be required to assume the administration of the govern- 
ment of this state. " He ought," says our correspond- 
ent, " to have gone to Washington, and remained there 
till Christmas. No man's presence there could have 
been more useful to the democracy. Instead of this, he 
came to Albany, where he immediately called on Gov. 
Bouck. The latter, in the course of conversation, men- 
tioned that he had received the resignation of the Hon. 
N. P. Tallmadge, who had recently been appointed by 
the president governor of Wisconsin. Mr. Wright re- 
marked that there would be nothing of general interest 
to require a senator in Washington until after the meet- 
ing of the legislature. Gov. Bouck observed that he 
thought the public interest required him to appoint one. 
Mr. Wright then said, ' If you think so, governor, I must 
resign, for I do not intend to go to Washington.' Gov. 
Wright thereupon went to the comptroller's office, and 
wrote his resignation, which was immediately delivered 
to Gov, Bouck. This," continues our correspondent, 
"was a most fatal error." 

Previous to the resignation of Gov. Wright, Lieuten- 
ant-governor Dickinson and the late state senator, Mr. 
Foster, were applicants for Mr. Tallmadge's place. 
The competition for the appointment was quite ardent, 
and so much so that they mutually assailed each other 



1844.] APPOINTMENT OF U. S. SENATORS. 509 

This controversy was extremely painful to Mr. Bouck. 
Both the connpetitors had been his steady, uniform, and 
efficient friends, and he finally concluded that he would 
not appoint either of them in preference to the other. 
Even after the resignation of Mr. Wright was received. 
Gov. Bouck tendered the appointment to Gov. Marcy, 
but he declined accepting it. Had he accepted, it is 
probable the governor would have appointed Heman J. 
Redfield for his colleague. The non-acceptance of Mr. 
Marcy resulted in the appointment of the two rival ap- 
plicants, which happily extinguished the growing hos- 
tility between them. 

43* 



510 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VOKK. [1845. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Condition of the Democratic Party at the commencement of the year 1845 
— Contest about the nomination of Speaker — Mr. Seymour and Col. 
Grain — Mr. Seymour is nominated and elected — Governor's Message — 
Caucus to nominate State Officers — Its result — Caucus to nominate 
United States Senators — Messrs. Dickinson and Dix nominated and 
elected — Mr. Polk's offer to appoint Mr. Wright Secretary of the Treas- 
ury — Gov. Marcy appointed Secretary of War. 

Never had the democratic party achieved a greater 
triumph than in the election of 1844. Both of the great 
parties of tlie country had put forth their entire strength 
in the contest ; the interest excited was intense and uni- 
versal, and the result decisive. The whig party was 
entirely prostrated, and apparently disorganized. The 
democratic party of the state never held so strong a po- 
sition. The severity of the contest with the whigs had 
restored its ancient discipline, which had been impaired 
by the divisions in its ranks during Mr. Bouck's admin- 
istration, and the utmost enthusiasm animated its masses. 
Mr. Wright's position was not less flattering ; the gen- 
eral belief that his name had largely contributed to carry 
the state, and consequently the nation, gave him great 
credit at home and abroad, while the body of the party 
felt for him that admiration which is always excited in 
favor of prominent candidates at earnestly contested 
elections. As he had been withdrawn for many years 
from the irritating domestic feuds of the party, it is fair 
to presume that all sections were disposed to support his 
administration. 



1845.] HUNKER AND RADICAL DIFFERENCES. 511 

"I know it is charged that the friends of Gov. Bouck," 
says .-111 inteHigenl and fair-minded hunker correspond- 
ent, " were determined to embarrass his administration 
from the beginning. Whatever may have been the 
feehrigs of a few individuals. I do not think it was the 
case to any extent. I can say that so far as my obser- 
vation extended, and from what I know of the views of 
those with whom I was acting, it was beheved he would 
act impartially between the different interests. I still 
believe, if Mr. Wright had acted in pursuance of his 
own views, he would have harmonized all diflerences. 
He could not but feel that he had been fairly supported 
by all interests, and during the progress of the election, 
he had been brought into contact and co-operation with 
all classes of politicians. Jt was natural he should feel 
unwilling to commence a war upon those who had so 
recently put forth every effort to sustain him. When 
he first went to Albany, before the commencement of the 
session, he took occasion to manifest his disposition to 
harmonize all differences." 

It is confidently asserted by the hunkers that the inti- 
mate friends and confidential advisers of Mr. Wright 
entertained different feelings and views. They allege 
that Mr. Van Buren felt that his defeat in the Baltimore 
Convention was in part owing to an influence emanating 
from this state. Mr. Flagg also had been deeply engaged 
in the quarrel with Gov. Bouck ; and that section of the 
democratic party friendly to the late governor insist that 
after the first feelings of triumph on account of the result 
of the election had subsided, Mr. Flagg, and other gen- 
tlemen with whom he had acted, began to mark out a 
policy for the future. That policy, they say, looked to 
the elevation of Mr. Wright to the presidency; that 



512 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

these leading radicals, in order to carry into effect their 
views, and preserve their own ascendency, arrived at 
the conclusion, that, instead of conciliating the friends 
of Gov. Bouck, it was necessary to put them down ; and 
they thought that as they then had the strength to ef- 
fect this object, that then was the time to execute the 
scheme. 

On the other hand, the radicals believed, or claimed 
to believe, that the object of the hunkers was by little 
and little to encroach on the financial system established 
by the act of 1842; that the leading members of that 
section of the party came to the capitol with smothered 
but bitter feelings of resentment for the defeat they had 
suffered in the convention of Syracuse, and with a de- 
termination to wage an insidious war against those who 
had caused that defeat. It is by no means improbable 
that both sections were unreasonably jealous of each 
other, and that each party charged the other with acting 
from motives to which they were strangers. At any 
rate, we are quite sure that this last remark is correct, 
as respects several distinguished individuals belonging 
to the hunker and radical parties ; and the fact is uni- 
versally admitted, that whatever of jealousy or hostility 
existed in the breasts of the leaders of the two sections 
in Albany, those jealousies and enmities did not prevail 
to any considerable extent among the masses of the dem- 
ocratic party in the country. They were glowing with 
the enthusiasm excited by the triumph in the recent con- 
test, and the exhibition of domestic broils annoyed and 
mortified them. This feeling was entertained by many 
of the democratic members of the legislature when they 
came from the country. Most of them were strangers 
to public life, and they entered the capitol expecting to 



1845.] MEMBER^ OF THE ASSEMBLY. 513 

act in support of Gov. Wright, and in concert with the 
state oflicers. 

Mr. Horatio Sevmour was the onlv member of the 
assembly of 1845, that belonged to the democratic party, 
who was a member the preceding year, and but two 
others had been members of any legislative body previ- 
ous to that time. Mr. Seymour of Oneida, Col. Grain 
of Herkimer, Mr. Bailey of Putnam, Mr. T. R. Lee of 
Westchester, Mr. Russell of St. Lawrence, Mr. Com- 
sto(;k of Oneida, and INIr. Niven of Orange, were the 
leading democratic members. 

The whigs, although in the minority, were represent- 
ed by very able and experienced men — some of them 
were highly and justly distinguished for their talents. 
The present governor, John Young, of Livingston, and 
Alvah Worden, from Ontario, were their leaders. They 
were sustained by Mr. Bloss of Monroe, Lee of Erie, 
Van Schoonhoven of Troy, Harris of Albany, S. A. 
Brown of Ghautauque, and A. W. Young of Wyoming, 
the author of a very valuable and highly useful work 
" On the Science of Government," and more recently of 
a treatise entitled " First Lessons in Givil Government." 
The city of New York was represented by men chcsen 
by the Native American party, and were all highly re- 
spectable for their talents and standing in community. 
Messrs. Wheeler, Morrison, and De Buy, from that city, 
took an active part in the proceedings of the house. 

Although the democratic party in the senate had lost 
the powerl'ul support of Mr. Foster, it had gained that 
of Mr. Hand, from the fourth district, a man of talents, 
and who po.ssessed a mind highly cultivated. He has 
been recently elected a justice of the Supreme Court by 
the fourth judicial district. Mr. Talcott, the successor 



514 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

of Mr. Foster, was also a valuable acquisition to the 
senate. He was a sound lawyer and an industrious and 
able legislator. 

No sooner did the members begin to assemble at Al- 
bany, than indications were manifested that the hopes of 
Gov. Wright, and other well-wishers of the democratic 
cause who had not mingled in the controversies which 
had raged between the hunkers and radicals during the 
preceding session, were delusive. The war was re- 
vived with increased fury on the canvass for nomination 
of speaker of the assembly. 

The energy of character, address, and abilities of Mr. 
Seymour have been heretofore stated. As it was gen- 
erally admitted that he possessed the qualities we have 
ascribed to him, and as he was the only democratic 
member of the last house of assembly who had been re- 
elected, it was natural that he should have been spoken 
of as a very suitable man for the office of speaker. Ac- 
cordingly, some time before the commencement of the 
session, he had been applied to by his friends to stand 
as a candidate. We are assured, on the best authority, 
that when the project was considered by him he was 
not inclined to encourage it, but preferred the position 
of a floor member. He however finally consented that 
his name should be used. When he gave that consent 
he did not anticipate that his support of the renomina- 
tion of Gov. Bouck, or his canal report, would, at the 
commencement of a new administration, be urged against 
him ; but on his arrival at Albany, a day or two before 
the meeting of the legislature, he was informed that the 
state officers were taking very active measures to pre- 
vent his nomination by a democratic caucus. 

The candidate whom it was proposed to present in 



1845.] CONTEST FOR SPEAKERSHIP. 515 

opposition to Mr. Seymour, was Col. William C. Grain, 
ot" HerKimer, a verj worthy man, who had some years 
before been a member of the assembly, and more re- 
cently sheriff* of the county of Herkimer. Col. Grain 
was an educated agriculturist, highly esteemed in his 
own county, and indeed wherever he was known. He 
was the friend and pupil, politically speaking, of Mr. 
Hoff'man, and thoroughly radical in his principles. It is 
not to be presumed that he felt any desire to compete 
for the office of speaker, and it is probable that he rather 
'"eluctantly consented to be a candidate at the solicita- 
'on of friends. 

When Mr. Seymour perceived that a contest was de- 

*■ irmined on by his opponents, he felt that his personal 

f'anding and influence would in some degree depend on 

'he result. Very active efforts were therefore made, as 

fell by him and his friends as by the friends of Col. 

""rain and influential citizens from abroad, who either 

.ccidentally, or because they were desirous to exert an 

ifluence in the nomination of speaker, were in attend- 

nce at Albany, and took part, according to their re- 

pective predilections, in the contest. 

The radicals alleged that an unusual number of post- 
aasters and other office-holders under the general gov- 
rnment made their appearance in Albany and advocated 
he electioii (.)f Mr. Seymour ; while, 0)i the other hand, 
he hunkers affirmed that the city was crowded with 
persons holding office under the canal board, who were 
ixtremely zealous and active in their efforts to promote 
ihe election of Col. Grain. Probably there is some truth 
in the allegations on both sides. 

Among other means to which a resort was had to de- 
feat Seymour's nomination and promote that of Grain, it 



516 POLITICAL HISTOKY OF NEW YOKK. [l845. 

was represented that the election of Mr. Seymour would 
be injurious to Mr. Wright, who did not desire his elec- 
tion. The governor was at that time preparing his mes- 
sage, and saw few of the members ; but Mr. Seymour 
hearing of these reports, determined forthwith to ascer- 
tain, from the proper source, whether they were author- 
ized. He therefore called upon Gov. Wright, accom- 
panied by Mr. Van Valkenburgh, a member from Steu- 
ben, and Mr. Thayer, from Oswego, and informed the 
governor that he (Mr. S.) had been told that it had been 
stated by some of the state oflicers, naming two of them, 
that hi;? election to the speakership would embarrass the 
governor's administration ; that if he felt that such would 
be the case, Mr. S. would instantly withdraw his name, 
although it would be embarrassing to do so after having 
been publicly announced as a candidate. He added, 
that nevertheless there was no reason why any personal 
considerations affecting him should embarrass the ad- 
ministration, the success of which was of much greater 
consequence than any interest he could have in this 
matter ; and he desired the governor to state frankly 
what his wishes were on the subject. Mr. Wright de- 
nied having expressed any opinion on the question of 
speaker, and said he had taken no part in the matter, 
and had no wishes in respect to the result. 

If, as Mr. Seymour evidently from his communication 
to Gov. Wright suspected, the state officers were at the 
bottom of the opposition to him, it seems to us they mis- 
judged. If they deemed it important that some person 
other than Seymour should be made speaker, it is more 
than probable that if they had early requested him to de- 
cline being a candidate, he would have done so: or if thev 
wished to test the feelings of the membei's elect on the 



1815.] THE SPEAKERSHIP. 517 

question between hunkers and radicals, they might have 
effected that object by a resort to some means in which 
success was less doubtful, and which were not calcula- 
ted to excite so much warmth and bitterness. It had 
the appearance of an attempt to revive old controver- 
sies without any just provocation, and also seemed to be 
an unjustifiable interference by the state officers in the 
election of officers of the house. This charge against 
the state officers (whether well or ill founded) was, at a 
subseijuent caucus, used against some of them with fatal 
effect. 

We have here given the views of this transaction 
which were, and probably yet are, entertained by the 
hunkers. It is by no means improbable that they (no 
doubt acting under the impulse of an honest delusion) 
laid niuci) to the state officers of which they were not 
guilty, and imputed to them acts which in reality were 
done by others. 

We have now before us a letter from an active radi- 
cal politician, in which, after stating that Gov. Wright 
returned to Canton after he had been to Albany and re- 
signed his seat in the senate, as has been related, he 
adds, that nothing was known of his sentiments, if he 
had formed any opinion on the subject of organizing the 
house ; and " I am," says the writer, " inclined to be- 
lieve he did not intend to mingle with it. Until three 
days before the meeting of the legislature, Mr. Fhigg 
was dumb on the subject. Gov. Wright had arrived ; 
and the Wednesday evening before the first Tuesday of 
January I was conversing with Senator Porter, when 
he informed me the radicals would vote for Col. Grain. 
I asked him if it was the wish of the governor that Col. 
C. should be speaker. He said he did not know. I then 

44 



518 I'ULITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

said to Mr. Porter, * Col. Grain will be in town to-mor- 
row ; I shall see him and advise him not to permit his 
name to be used unless Gov. Wright and Mr. Flagg will 
say publicly they wish him to be the speaker.' I gave 
Mr. Porter my reasons. He said he would see the gov- 
ernor the next day. He did so, and assured me that the 
governor desired that the colonel should be speaker." 

We remark in passing, that probably Mr. Wright said 
no more than he did to Mr. Seymour, which amounted 
to this — that he should be pleased with Mr. Grain, pro- 
vided his election was agreeable to the majority of the 
democratic members, which Mr. Porter naturally took 
for an expression of a desire on the part of the governor 
that the particular person thus mentioned should be se- 
lected. From this statement of our correspondent, which 
we have not a particle of doubt is every word of it true, 
it is extremely probable the opposition to Mr. Seymour 
was not, as the hunkers supposed, and perhaps had rea- 
son to believe, got up in the state hall, but the state of- 
ficers, on this as on other questions, merely acted with 
their radical friends in and out of the legislature. 

At a caucus of the democratic members of the assem- 
bly, held on the evening preceding the opening of the 
legislative session, of which Mr. Van Valkenburgh was 
chairman, on balloting for speaker, Mr. Seymour had 35 
votes, and Mr. Grain 30. At the same caucus, Mr. J. 
R. Rose was nominated clerk. Both gentlemen were 
the next day elected. 

The governor's message was, of course, an able state 
paper. He commences by stating the revenue for the 
last fiscal year as follows : 

" The total amount of receipts on account of the gen- 
eral fund, including the whole of the state tax, of one 



1845.] governor's mrssage. 519 

mill on the dollar, and deducting the 

sum received for temporary loans, was $1,073,249 01 

"The entire revenues of the canal fund, 
including all the receipts for tolls, wra- 
ter rents, and interest, for all the ca- 
nals, were 2,350,61 5 94 

" The revenues of the school fund prop- 
er, were 133,826 51 

" The revenues of the literatui'e fund were 18,490 34 

"The revenues of the United States 
deposite fund, after deducting $106, 
412 55, transferred from revenue to 
capital, were 237,304 25 



Making a total of $3,813,486 05 

He then proceeds to present a luminous view of the 
financial condition of the state, and of its debts and lia- 
bilities. He earnestly recommends an inflexible adhe- 
rence to the policy marked out by the law of 1842, and 
shows, by a recurrence to the history of the construc- 
tion of the Erie and Champlain canals, that the debt 
then contracted, and the provisions for the payment of 
its interest and principal, were in perfect accordance with 
the same policy, or rather, that the act of '42 was a re- 
vival of that policy. 

On the subject of amending the constitution, the gov- 
ernor strongly urges proposing an amendment to the 
people which shall render the pledges contained in the 
act of '42 a part of the organic law of the state ; and on 
this and other necessarv alterations of the constitution, 
he recommends the exercise of liberal concessions in re- 
gard to details and harmony in action, with a view to 
avoid the necessity of a resort to a convention. 



520 roLiTu;AL history of new york. [1845. 

" Our present constitution," says the governor, " has 
remained the fundamental law for nearly a quarter oi'a 
century, several amendments having been, in that time, 
adopted, in conformity with the provision of that instru- 
ment for its own amendment. Hitherto that provision 
has satisfied the public mind, and led to the amendments 
demanded by the popular feeling and judgment. I con- 
sider it extremely desirable that this should continue to 
be found practically tiue, and that such a degree of har- 
mony shall, at all limes, prevail between the popular will 
and the legislative action, in reference to further pro- 
posed amendtnents, as shall supersede demands for con- 
stitutional chaniie in any other form." 

The governor urges the payment of the instalments 
of the principal of the public debt when they become 
due, and solemnly protests against "deferred stock." 

On the subject of the common-school fund, the mes- 
sage contains the following beautiful paragraph, which 
cannot be too highly admired : 

" No public i'und of the state is so unpretending, vet so 
all-pervading — so little seen, yet so universally felt — so 
mild in its exactions, yet so bountiful in its benefits — so 
little feared or courted, and yet so powerful, as this fund 
for the support of common schools. The other funds 
act upon the secular interests of society, its business, its 
pleasures, its pride, its passions, its vices, its misfortunes. 
This acts upon its mind and its morals. Education is 
to free institutions what bread is to human life, the staff 
of their existence. The office of this fund is to open 
and warm the soil, and sow the seed, from which this 
element of freedom must grow and ripen into maturity ; 
and the health or sickliness of the growth ill measure 
tl»e extent and security of our liberties. The thankful- 



1845.] governor's mes.^age. 521 

ness we owe to those who have gone before us, for the 
institution of this fund, for its constitutional protection, 
and for its safe and prudent administration hitherto, we 
can best repay by imitating their example, and impro- 
ving upon their work as the increased means placed in 
our hands shall give us the ability." 

The governor, after alluding to the anti-rent outrages, 
says : 

" An exciting state election was made the occasion 
for an earnest attempt to intermix these questions with 
the general politics of the state, and make them tests of 
election to the legislature. It was but reasonable to ex- 
pect, after the appeals made in this form had been pa- 
tiently listened to, maturely considered, and deliberately 
decided by the freemen of the counties before whom 
the questions were raised, that further efforts, in any 
other manner, to accomplish the objects sought, would 
be at least delayed until the relief expected could have 
been asked at the hands of the legislature. Even this 
delay has not been suffered, but resistance to the law 
and its officers has been renewed, in forms and under 
circumstances of the deepest aggravation. Organized 
bands of men, assuming the disguise of savages, with 
arms in their hands, have already bid defiance to the 
law, its process, and its officers, and in repeated in- 
stances, and in more than one county, put the life of the 
sheriff or his deputies in imminent peril, forcibly taken 
from them their official papers, and burned them in open 
day, compelling the officer to desist from further at- 
tempts to discharge his duties. 

" These misguided violators of the law, and disturbers 
of the public peace, have not confined their outrages 
within even this limit. Already the lives of two peace- 

44* 



522 POLITICAL IIISTOKY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

able and unoffending citizens have been taken, and in 
both instances, when neither the sheriff nor his officers 
were present, and when no attempt was made to serve 
legal process." 

The governor goes on to say that " minor outrages 
upon the rights and persons of private individuals, and 
the peace of neighborhoods, had begun to awaken atten- 
tion to the danger of these lawless and passionate pro- 
ceedings ; but these wanton sacrifices of human life, in a 
manner so unprovoked and causeless, have given to the 
whole public mind a shock, which nothing but the prompt 
and effectual restoration of the reign of law and order 
can calm. 

" While the question between the proprietors and the 
tenants was whether the leasehold tenures should be 
perpetuated, or the rents should be commuted upon fair 
and reasonable terms, and fee simple titles should be 
given upon the payment of a capital in money, which, 
invested at a stipulated rate, would reproduce the rents 
to the landlord, the controversy was one in which the 
feelings and sympathies of our people were deeply en- 
listed, and strongly inclining in favor of the tenants. 

" Then the question was, not whether rights of prop- 
erty are to be trampled upon, the obligations of contracts 
violently resisted, the laws of the state set at defiance, 
the peace of society disturbed, and human life sacrificed, 
but in what way contracts, onerous in their exactions 
and tenures, in their nature and character uncongenial 
with the habits and opinions of our people, could be 
peaceably, and justly, and constitutionally modified to 
meet the changed circumstances of the times. And then 
I might have invited vour careful attention to the con 
siderations growing out of these issues. 



1845.] governor's message. 523 

" But I feel precluded from discussions of this char- 
acter, by the extravagant and indefensible position given 
to the controversy by the unlawful and violent proceed- 
ings of those, who assume to take the charge of the rights 
and interests of the tenants involved in this litigation." 

He recommends the enactment of a law making it 
highly penal, and severely punishable, for individuals to 
disguise themselves with a view to resist the laws or 
commit breaches of the peace. 

Tlie governor concludes by a very brief allusion to 
our national affairs, and the result of the late presiden- 
tial election. In respect to those great questions in rela- 
tion to the tariff, a national bank, and the distribution of 
the avails of the sales of the public lands, which had so 
long attracted the attention of the people, and agitated 
their minds, he considered the dispute finally put at rest 
by the voice of the electors, pronounced at the polls, 
and he says : 

" It is reasonable to hope that, after so solemn a deci- 
sion of the people, pronounced under such circumstances, 
the great interests of the country, which have long been 
kept in a condition of uncertainty and agitation, will be 
allowed repose ; that the basis of the action of the fed- 
eral government, on the subject of the currency, may 
now be considered settled ; that all further agitation on 
the question of assigning one entire branch of the per- 
manent federal revenues to the states may be at an end ; 
and that the principle upon which the revenues of that 
government, to be derived from customs, are to be as- 
sessed, is intelligibly defined. All these are subjects 
which deeply affect the business interests of every por- 
tion of the country, but more especially, and most deep- 
ly, the commercial and trading interests; and as the 



524 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

most commercial state of the Union, we have felt, with 
great severity, the uncertainty, the change, and the 
prospect of change, which, for many years past, have 
almost constantly surrounded all these questions." 

The state officers were to be appointed at this session, 
and two senators of the United States were to be chosen. 
The selection of candidates for these important offices 
excited much feeling and interest. 

Unfortunately for some of the incumbents of the state 
offices, the contest in relation to the speakership was 
calculated to organize, and did organize two interests in 
the assembly composed of members from the country, 
many of whom when they left home felt little or no pre- 
dilection for either of the sections of the democratic 
party, into which the members during the session of 
1844 were divided. But the feelings excited by that 
contest induced those who supported Mr. Seymour in 
the caucus to join the hunker party, and those who took 
sides in behalf of Col. Grain to act with the radicals; 
and, with occasional exceptions, it will be found that 
during the session they respectively, on all important 
questions, acted together, as they had done on the ques- 
tion of the selection of a speaker. All the state officers 
were radicals, and the hunkers took the position that it 
was fit and proper that a part of them should be of their 
party. Their determination to sustain this position was 
strengthened by an impression, that the existing state 
officers had interfered and exercised a powerful influ- 
ence in the selection of a speaker. 

It will be recollected that the state officers consisted 
of the secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney- 
general, and surveyor- general. The office of surveyor- 
general was vacated by the election of Mr. Jones as a 



1845.] LEUiSLATlVK CAUCUS. 525 

canal conimissioner, and Mr. Barker declined a reap- 
pointment to the office of attorney-general. The hun- 
kers claimed one-half of those officers. No opposition 
was made to Mr. Flagg, but Mr. Benton, of Herkimer 
county, was supported by the hunkers in opposition to 
Col. Young. For the office of attorney-general, Mr. 
Peckhain was made the opposing candidate to Mr. John 
Van Buren, and Mr. Benjamin Enos, of Madison county, 
was sustained by the hunkers for treasurer, against Mr. 
Farrington, then the incumbent of that office. 

On the evening of the first of February a caucus was 
held, which was attended by all the democratic mem- 
bers of both houses, except Gen. Chamberlain of the 
senate, who was confined to his room by severe illness. 
Judge Bockee was chosen chairman. No opposition 
was made to the reappointment of Mr. Flagg. but it is 
remarkable how nearly equal the parties were divided 
in relation to the other officers. On the first ballot for 
secretary of state there was no choice, but on the sec- 
ond ballot Mr. Benton had two majority. Mr. John 
Van Buren was nominated attorney-general over Mr. 
Peckham by a majority of one only ; Mr. Enos obtained 
seven majority over Mr. Farrington ; and Mr. Hugh 
Halsey, of Suffolk county, obtained the same majority 
for surveyor-general over Mr. Sydney Lawrence, late 
senator. Mr. Henry Storms was unanimously nomina- 
ted for reappointment to the office of commissary-general. 
Martin Van Buren and William C. Bouck were nomina- 
ted to supply two vacancies in the board of regents, 
occasioned by the recent death of William Campbell and 
the resignation of Joseph Russell. 

Col. Young, from his distinguished talents, his long 
public services, and recently for the zeal and ability with 



52G POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

which he had superintended the common-school depart- 
ment ; and Mr. Farrington, from his amiable deport- 
ment and unexceptionable character, had many friends ; 
and the defeat of those gentlemen consequently pro- 
duced much excitement and irritation. That excitement 
and irritation were increased by the contest respect- 
ing the selection of candidates for the U. States senate. 
It was believed that the exhibition of strength which 
should be exhibited on this occasion by the two sections 
of the democratic party, both of course claiming to be 
friendly to the general administration, would have a 
great and perhaps a controlling influence with Mr. Polk 
in the selection of a member of his cabinet from this 
state; that is to say, he would select such member 
from that section which should appear to be the strongest. 
The hunkers supported Messrs. Dickinson and Fos- 
ter, and the radicals Messrs. Dix and Hoffman. Every 
eflfort was put forth to secure success on both sides. 
The canvass was very close, and produced an intense 
excitement. The division of strength was so equally 
balanced, that the result for some time was quite uncer- 
tain. There were a few members who had gone with 
the hunkers, in the selection of state officers, on the 
principle that these offices ought to be equally divided 
between the two sections. These men, of whom it 
is presumed Mr. Bockee of the senate was one, held 
the balance of power, and they intimated a disposition 
to support one hunker and one radical for United States 
senators. Gov. Wright seemed to favor an equal divi- 
sion of officers, and finally expressed himself decidedly 
against Mr. Foster. This being the state of things, the 
hunkers became satisfied that the attempt to sustain Mr. 
Foster would be vain and useless. 



1845] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 527 

There were two very clever radical young men, Mv. 
Harden and Mr. Carpenter, from the county of Otsego, 
and so close was the canvass, that it was believed, if 
they could be induced to change their votes, two hun- 
ker candidates would be nominated. Partly with this 
view, the hunkers, under the advisement of Mr. S. S. 
Bovvne, an energetic and talented politician, and late 
member of congress, who happened then to be in Alba- 
ny, at the last moment brought forward Judge Nelson, 
and as lie was a resident of the same county from which 
Messrs. Carpenter and Harden came, it was presumed 
he would not be opposed by them. But this expectation 
proved to be ill founded. These gentlemen had taken 
their ground, and could not be moved. 

The caucus was held on the 24th of February ; ninety- 
three members were present, being all the democratic 
members of the legislature, except Mr. Dayton, of Suf- 
folk county. Mr. Dennison was appointed chairman of 
the caucus. 

Mr, Porter, of the senate, offered a resolution, which 
was read, proposing that the caucus now proceed to 
ballot for a candidate fur United States senator, to sup- 
ply the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the 
Hon. Silas Wright. 

Mr. Wright offered a substitute, to the effect that the 
meeting now proceed to ballot for candidates for United 
States senators — first, in place of the Hon. Silas Wright : 
next, in the place of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge ; and 
third, for the full term commencing on the 4th of March 
next. 

A long discussion ensued, in which it appeared that 
the radical portion of the convention were desirous to 
nominate a candidate to supply the vacancy occasioned 



528 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

by the resignation of Mr. Wright, whose unexpired term 
continued for four years from the 4th of March then 
next ; and another in Heu of Mr. Tahmadge, whose term 
would expire within about six weeks ; leaving the selec- 
tion of a senator who should be the successor of Mr. 
Tallmadge, after the 4th of March, and whose term 
would of course continue for six years from that time, 
to be nominated at a future meeting of the members. 
This was resisted by the hunkers. Messrs. Porter, 
Sherman, T. R. Lee, Lester, and Johnson, spoke in 
favor of Mr. Porter's resolution, and Messrs. Wright, 
Lott, Beers, Seymour, and Clark, in support of Mr. 
Wright's substitute. Mr. Porter's motion finally pre- 
vailed. 

Mr. Bockee then proposed the name of Judge Nelson 
for senator in lieu of Mr. Wright, while on the other 
side the name of Gen. Dix was brought forward. Upon 
a ballot Gen. Dix received 51 votes, and was nominated, 
only 41 votes having been cast for Judge Nelson. The 
caucus then proceeded to ballot for a candidate to sup- 
ply the unexpired term of Mr. Tallmadge, when Mr. 
Dickinson was nominated by a large majority. Imme- 
diately after the result of this vote was declared, a mo- 
tion was made to adjourn. This effort produced con- 
siderable excitement, but the motion failed by a vote of 
55 to 37 ; Messrs. Carpenter and Harden voting against 
the adjournment. Several radicals declined voting at 
all on this question. 

Mr. Beers then moved that the caucus proceed to 
ballot for a candidate for senator in congress for six 
years from the fourth of March next. Some confusion 
followed, and Mr. Baily, of Putnam, made a zealous and 
ingenious speech in favor of postponing further action. 



1845.] NOMINATJON OF MR. DICKINSON. 529 

The caucus again refu.sed to adjourn by the same vote 
as before, whereupon a ballot was had with the follow- 
ing result : — for D. 8. Dickinson 54, Michael Ilofftnan 
13, F. G. Jewett 3, Samuel Nelson 1, blanks 4. 

On the motion to make the nomination of Mr. Dick- 
inson unanimous, Mr. T. R. Lee made a speech in op- 
position to it. To this Mr. Seymour made a forcible 
and eloquent reply. Towards the close of his speech 
he appealed to those opposed to Mr. D.'s nomination 
with great effect. He said he " appealed to them by the 
recollections of the recent common victory, by the de- 
termination which then actuated our whole party as one 
man, under the feeling that we were contending for 
common principles and in a common cause." 

In the end the nomination was declared unanimous by 
the votes of fifty-four members, one senator, Mr. Johnson, 
voting in the negative, and several of the radicals re- 
fusing to vote at all. The session of the caucus was 
protracted till twelve o'clock. A hunker, then a mem- 
ber of the legislature, has informed the author that " af- 
ter the caucus an effort was made by the whigs to induce 
the barnburners to unite with them in the legislature, 
and nominate Col. Young to the senate instead of Mr. 
Dickinson. Meetings were held for that purpose, and 
some progress was made towards effecting such an ar- 
rangement. The senators from the sixth district (Messrs. 
Faulkner, Chamberlain, Burnham, and Beers) hearing 
of this movement called upon Gov. Wright, and formal- 
ly invited his attention to it. The governor then inter- 
fered, and the effort was dropped." Although we have 
full confidence in the veracity of the correspondent from 
whom the above quotation is made, it is due to Colonel 
Young to state that the author happened to be in Albany 

45 



530 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

a day or two after the caucus, that lie heard a rumor of 
the negotiations alluded to by our correspondent, and 
that in a casual conversation with Col. Young, he de- 
clared that he would not, under any circumstances, be 
a candidate in opposition to the caucus nomination ; and 
we think he mentioned that the suggestion had been made 
to him, and he had peremptorily refused. We submit 
one other remark. We think our correspondent ascribes 
too much effect to the interference of Gov. Wright. On 
this subject we have the following facts from a source 
perfectly reliable. On Monday evening, after the state 
officers had been chosen as nominated in caucus, about 
twenty radical members met to determine how they 
should act in relation to the senators, who were the next 
day to be chosen. Many of the radicals contended that 
the caucus was not binding ; but Dennison, Lester, and 
Porter went to the caucus, and labored there until they 
dissuaded them from making any opposition. This was 
done at the request of Gov. Wright. 

About this time communications were made by Mr. 
Polk to Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright severally, 
stating that he (Mr. Polk) had come to the conclusion 
that either the state or the treasury department should be 
committed to the charge of a citizen of the state of New 
York. We do not know that it was expressly men- 
tioned in these communications, but we have reason to 
believe that their tenor was such that both Mr. Van 
Buren and Mr. Wright inferred, that the selection of a 
citizen to preside over one of these departments would 
be made in pursuance of the recommendation of these 
gentlemen and their friends. Mr. Wright, it is pre- 
sumed, believed that the arrangements indicated by the 
president elect had been definitively fixed upon and set- 



1845.] PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS. 531 

tied at Washington, and therefore he wa.s the more anx- 
ious to prevent any open collision among the democratic 
members of the legislature ; and he also might have 
been apprehensive that a contest in the legislature about 
the choice of a senator would afford a demonstration 
that the radicals, who constituted that section of the 
democratic party w hich the public chose to consider as 
peculiarly his friends, were in the minority; or if in the 
majority, that that majority was very small, and that 
hence his standing in his own state would be regarded 
by his friends abroad as unstable and impaired. Our 
radical correspondent from Albany further states, that 
"it was believed if the cabinet should be formed in the 
manner indicated by Mr. Polk, if Mr. Dickinson should 
be elected he would be obliged to fall into the support 
of the administration or go with the opposition, which 
would render him powerless." 

These considerations, in connection with the anxious 
desire of Mr. Wright to harmonize the two sections of 
the democratic party, surely furnished sufficient reason 
for his interference to prevent any opposition, by the 
democratic members, to the election of Mr. Dickinson 
after his nomination in caucus. 

Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright, soon after the re- 
ceipt of Mr. Polk's communication, recommended that 
in case the secretary of state should be taken from Nevr ' 
York, Mr. Butler should be selected ; and in case the 
treasury department should be assigned to a citizen of 
this state, Mr. Flagg should be appointed to that office. 
The president, nevertheless, tendered the appointment 
of secretary of the treasury to Mr. Wright himself; but 
he was so situated that even if he had desired the office, 
he could not honorably accept it. 



532 POLITICAL III^^TOIIY OF NKVV YORK. [1845. 

Before the gubernatorial election it had been charged 
by the whigs, as an objection to Mr. Wright, that should 
he be elected his election would be of no use to his friends ; 
for if Mr. Polk should be chosen president, Mr. Wright 
would be selected to preside over one of the national ex- 
ecutive departments, and would immediately abandon the 
administration of the state government to the lieutenant- 
governor. In consequence of these allegations, Mr. 
Wright repeatedly pledged himself, that if elected gov- 
ernor he would not accept of any office in the general 
government. These declarations, although they may 
not have been known to Mr. Polk, must have been 
known at Washington before the ofter we have men- 
tioned was made to Mr. Wright. But be that as it may, 
Mr. Wright promptly declined the appointment. 

Mr. Polk then tendered to Mr. Butler the office of 
secretary of war. To the letter containing this propo- 
sition Mr. Butler replied, that if it had accorded with 
the arrangements of the president to appoint him secre- 
tary of state, or of the treasury, he should, though with 
some reluctance, have accepted either, but that he could 
not undertake the charge of the war department ; that 
the duties to be performed by the secretary of war 
would lead him so far from the line of his profession, (a 
profession he was not prepared to abandon,) that the at- 
'tempt to resume, successfully, its practice, would be ut- 
terly hopeless ; but that the duties incident to either of 
the other departments to be performed were nearly al- 
lied to those of the profession to which his attention and 
life had been principally devoted, and therefore the 
charge of one of them would be less objectionable. 

Previous to or about the time of the close of this cor- 
respondence between Messrs. Polk. Van Buren, Wright, 



1845.] MR. M.\RCY, SECRETARY OF WAR. 533 

and Butler, the friends of Gov. Marcy prepared a letter 
addressed to Mr. Polk, signed, as is alleged, by a major- 
ity of the democratic members of the legislature,* re- 
questing, that in case a New Yorker should be called to 
the cabinet, Mr. Marcy should be selected for that place. 
This recommendation was successful, and Gov. Marcv 
was made secretary of war. 

We have, on a former occasion, expressed a high 
opinion of Mr. Marcy. That opinion is not changed. 
The able and satisfactory manner with which he had for 
a long time administered the government of the state of 
New York, the distinguished ability with which he had 
executed all other trusts wiiich had been confided to 
him, and his acknowledged talents, rendered his appoint- 
ment as one of the national secretaries creditable to the 
president. And yet, when we reflect on the immense 
obligations which Mr. Polk and the democratic party in 
the nation were under to Mr. Wrifjht, and we mav add 
Mr. Butler and other friends of Mr. Van Buren, and in- 
deed to Mr. Van Buren himself, — when it is recollected 
that the New York delegation, consisting of the friends 
of jMr. Van Buren, made Mr. Polk the presidential can- 
didate, — when the pledges made at the Baltimore Con- 
vention are called to mind, — when we reflect that Mr. 
Wright, by the sacrifice of his quiet and his most fondly 
cherished predilections, was the admitted cause of the 
triumph of Mr. Polk at the late election, — and when it is 
considered that the appointment of Mr. Marcy was not 
only against the wishes of Mr. Wright and his friends, 
but that they earnestly urged in vain the appointment of 
Mr. Flagg or Mr. Butler, as the representative of New 



* All the signers of this letter were probably huukeis. 
45* 



n.S i POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

York in the national cabinet, is it surprising that the ap- 
pointment of even Governor Marcy should have been 
regarded by the radical party with disfavor, and with 
some feeling of resentment ? 

The hunkiers had good reason to congratulate them- 
selves on their success. When the session commenced, 
their opponents were about equal to them in numbers, 
and had the benefit of the great influence of Governor 
Wright in the state and nation, and all the state officers ; 
and yet they had procured the election of the speaker, 
one-half of the state officers, and a senator of the United 
States for nearly seven years to come ; they had pro- 
cured the appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and had stationed, in the national 
cabinet, an able, efficient, and confidential friend, of 
great talents' and superior tact and address. This ex- 
traordinary success was undoubtedly owing (for we do 
not speak of the inerits, so far as regards principle, of 
either party) in part, and perhaps in a great degree, to 
the skill, address, and management of two men, — we 
mean Horatio Seymour and Edwin Croswell ; but was 
it not also in part caused by a plan concocted at Wash- 
ington in regard to the successor of Mr. Polk, adverse 
to the views of Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright? Did 
not the far-seeing politicians of the South reason at that 
time, as they did at the Baltimore Convention ? The 
future political history of this country will furnish the 
answers to these questions.* 

* This was written in March, 1848. 



1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 535 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Opinions of the Hunker and Radical Members of the Legislature of 1845 
on the subject of the necessity of a Constitutional Convention — Differ- 
ent views of the Hunkers, Radicals, aird Whigs on that subject — Char- 
acter of John Young — Amendments to the Constitution proposed by 
the Legislature of 1844, and approved by the Electors at the Novem- 
ber election of that year — Action of the Whig Members of the Legis- 
lature on those Amendments — Circumstances which led to the passage 
of a Convention Bill — Final passage of the Bill in the Assembly — De- 
bate on that occasion — Proceedings in the Senate on the Convention 
Bill — Its final passage in that House — Passage of the Canal Bill — Is 
vetoed by the Governor — Resignation of Judge Kent, and appointment 
of Judge Edmonds as Circuit Judge of the First Circuit. 

The session of 1845 was an exciting one, not only on 
account of the numerous and important appointments 
which were made by the legislature, but also on account 
of the discussion and decision upon the project of a con- 
vention to revise the constitution, and of the passage 
through both houses of the canal bill, and the governor's 
veto of it. 

It may be safely asserted, that when the subject of a 
convention was first agitated, the hunkers were opposed 
to any convention, and with them, on this question, 
many of the leading radicals concurred. They proba- 
bly reasoned in this way : " There are, it is true, a few 
alterations which ought to be made in the constitutional 
law in relation to the judiciary, and in some other re- 
spects, but these amendments can be made in a consti- 
tutional way, if indeed they are called for by that strong 
current of public opinion, without the evidence of the 



536 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

existence of which the great charter of our Hberties and 
civil institutions ought not to be touched. As a meas- 
ure of party policy, it is perfectly absurd. We have 
now the whole judiciary ; and the appointing power, 
both executive and legislative, is now in our hands, and 
likely to remain so. We, therefore, can, by no possibil- 
ity, gain any thing, but may lose much." 

But there was undoubtedly a portion of the radicals, 
among whom we may safely reckon Mr. Hoffman, Col. 
Young, and Col. Crain, who believed in the absolute 
necessity of making the substance of the act of 1842 a 
part of the constitution ; and they believed this measure 
to be so highly important as to be paramount to all 
others. Hence the message of the governor was dis- 
liked by the radicals ; for although Mr. Wright in his 
message admitted that a necessity for a convention 
might exist, the fair inference from his remarks on that 
subject is, that in his judgment such necessity did not 
then exist.* 

Radical whigs, who constituted a large majority of 
the whig party, believed that some amendments ought 
to be made to the constitution, and they preferred ma- 
king those amendments through the agency of a con- 
vention, than by the mode provided in the existing con- 
stitution. They had nothing to lose by the agitation 
which might be produced by a convention, and might 
gain much. Viewed as a question of party policy, their 
condition was precisely the reverse of the democrats. 
This the leaders of the radical whigs saw most clearly, 



* After the message was written, Gov. Wright invited Gov. Marcy, 
Mr. Croswell, and Chief-Justice Brousou, to meet with the state officers 
at the reading of it. The convention question was not, on that occasion, 
discussed or mentioned. 



1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 537 

and therefore seized the occasion to avail themselves of 
all the advantages their position afforded. 

The Native Americans also desired some alterations 
in the constitution, particularly in relation to the eligi- 
bility to office of adopted citizens, and they also reasoned 
like the wiiigs, that they could lose nothing, and might 
by possibility gain something by a convention, and there- 
fore favored the project. 

Of all the members who supported the bill for calling 
a convention, vested with unrestricted powers, the anti- 
renters were probably the most sincere. They could 
not anticipate any effectual relief from the evils of which 
they complained, without some radical alteration of the 
fundamental law, and they therefore approached the 
convention question with great and no doubt honest zeal. 

It would appear from the vote on the speaker ques- 
tion that the natives, anti-refiters, and whigs amounted 
in the aggregate to sixty in number. The democrats 
therefore, when united, held but a small majority over all 
the other parties in the house, if on any occasion they 
should choose to combine. 

John Young, the present governor, is perhaps one of 
the most sagacious politicians who ever took part in the 
political contests of this state. With talents of a high 
order, industry, patient perseverance, a profound know- 
ledge of men, he was one of the ablest party leaders and 
most skilful managers in a popular body that ever en- 
tered the assembly chamber ; quick to perceive when 
and how an advantage might be gained over an adverse 
party, he was ready and prompt to seize it ; but no man 
could wait more quietly for the arrival of the proper 
time for action than he. He not only wished to effect 
the passage of a law recommending a convention, but 



538 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

he wished that such law should be passed in such a man- 
ner that it could be claimed as a whio- measure. To do 
this it became necessary to avail himself" of the division 
among the democratic members, and he, by the aid of 
Mr. Worden, an able and eloquent member from Onta- 
rio, pursued his object with most consummate skill and 
address. 

We will conclude our remarks upon the character of 
Mr. Young by quoting from a letter written by a dem- 
ocratic member of the legislature to the author : 

"I do not know that I can give you a well-defined 
sketch of the character and position of Gov. Young. 
There are peculiarities in both which are difficult to 
describe. He is courteous and gentlemanly in his man- 
ners, and intellisrent and interesting in conversation. 
He appears to the best advantage in a deliberative body, 
and when he comes in immediate contact with those 
upon whom he wishes to act. He is an admirable de- 
bater, and carefully avoids weakening the interest with 
which he is heard, by speaking too diffiisely or too fre- 
quently. Possessed of a good voice, a fine imagination, 
and an earnest and persuasive style of speaking, he al- 
ways attracts and holds the attention of his audience. 
He is cool, cautious, and steady in the pursuit of his ob- 
jects. In the winter of 1845, he displayed great skill and 
tact in procuring the passage of the bill for the conven- 
tion, in such a form, and under such circumstances, that 
it had the aspect of a whig measure, while at the same 
time he prevented any union of the democratic mem- 
bers upon its form and provisions. His efforts during this 
session placed him at the head of the whig party, at the 
same time that they paved the way for his promotion by 
reviving the spirit of the whigs, which had been crushed 



1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 539 

by the recent election, and by dividing and weakening 
the democratic party. In his intercourse with men he 
shows great tact and cunning, and he strives to adapt 
himself to the sentiments and feelings of the day, rather 
than to impress his own convictions upon others." 

The preceding legislature had proposed several amend- 
ments to the constitution, which had at the last election 
been approved by the people, and which now required two- 
thirds of the votes of the members of the present legislature 
to constitute such amendments a part of the constitution. 

The first proposed amendment was to incorporate 
substantially into the constitution the act of 1842. 

The second restricted the power of the legislature to 
create debts, or loan the credit of the state. 

The third, that no property qualification should be re- 
quired to render a citizen eligible to hold any office or 
public trust. 

The fourth, to prevent the removal of any judicial offi- 
cer without cause. 

The fifth, to add three associate chancellors to the 
Court of Chancery. 

The sixth, to add two justices to the Supreme Court. 

These resolutions were all passed in the senate by the 
affirmative votes of more than two-thirds of the mem- 
bers of that body. 

In order tr) render the call of a convention indispen- 
sable, it was necessary that these amendments, or some 
of those which were deemed material by the radical 
democrats, should be rejected. At this point Mr. Young 
commenced his labors ; and when the amendments came 
up for consideration, all of them, except the third and 
fourth, were rejected, there being from 61 to 63 votes 
in their favor, and from 50 to 56 against them. If we 



540 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845, 

ai'e not mistaken in our examination of the journal, every 
whig member voted in the negative. The amendments 
were therefore lost for the want of a two-third vote. 
So far then the coast was clear. Still formidable diffi- 
culties presented themselves. The speaker had formed 
a committee on amendments to the constitution, a ma- 
jority of whom were opposed to a convention. That 
committee consisted of Messrs. Comstock, Russell, Niv- 
en. Bailey, L. H. Brown, Worden, and Morrison ; 
Messrs. Bailey, Worden, and L. H. Brown being the 
only persons on the committee who were in favor of a 
convention. No bill for a convention therefore could 
be expected from a committee thus constituted. If a 
bill should be brought in by a whig member on his own 
motion, it would, in all probability, induce the combined 
and united opposition of the democratic party. Messrs. 
Young and Worden were therefore fain to wait until 
one of the radical members should think proper to intro- 
duce such a bill. 

An accidental circumstance hastened the event which 
these gentlemen so much desired. 

We have heretofore mentioned the appointment of 
Chief-justice Nelson to the office of associate judge of 
the Supreme Court of the United States. This pro- 
duced a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court ol 
this state. Mr. Crain applied to Gov. Wright to give 
the place to Mr. Hoffiman ; but the governor nominated 
F. G. Jewitt, of Onondaga, at present a judge of the 
Court of Appeals. After ascertaining this result, Mr. 
Crain went to visit his friends in Herkimer county. He 
found his constituents dejected and displeased. Nothing 
had been done for Mr. Hoffinan. Nothing in relation 
to a convention. Mr. Marcy had been made secretary 



1845.] CONVENTION BILL 541 



• 



of war, and Mr. N. S. Benton, secretary of state of the 
state of New York. All these measures were directly 
against the views and wishes of the radicals of Herki- 
mer, who composed a large majority of his constituents. 
He therefore, by the advice of his friends in Herkimer, 
resolved, immediately on his return to the assembly, to 
introduce a bill for calling a convention. When he ar- 
rived in Albany, he applied to Dudley Burwell, Esq., 
an able lawyer of that city, to draw the proposed bill ; 
and the bill which Mr. Grain afterwards introduced into 
the assembly, and which idtimately passed into a law, 
was in fact drawn by Mr. Burwell. 

This bill was on the 13th of March referred to the 
committee on constitutional amendments, which has al- 
ready been mentioned. They met from time to time, 
and adjourned without taking any definite action on it. 
The hunker democrats, after the constitutional amend- 
ments were lost, became convinced that a convention 
was inevitable ; and they felt it important, and there- 
fore were extremely anxious, that such a bill should be 
presented as would unite the whole democratic party in 
its support. Before, however, any particular plan of a 
convention bill was agreed upon by the two sections of 
the democratic party, Mr. Young, on a certain day 
when so many of the democrats were absent as to leave 
their opponents nearly equal to them in numbers, moved 
that the select committee, to whom Mr. Grain's bill had 
been referred, should report it to the house on a certain 
day mentioned in the resolution, and then that it be 
made a special order at 12 o'clock each day until it was 
disposed of Messrs. Grain and Buel of Herkimer, and 
Mr. Ghace of Tioga, voted with the whigs for this mo- 
tion, and it was carried. Gov. Wright became alarmed, 

46 



N 



542 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 



• 



and sent for Col. Grain, and held a long conversation 
with him on the subject. Mr. C. told the governor that 
he v^as acting in pursuance of the advice of Mr. Hoff- 
man and Judge Loomis, and others of his constituents, 
and that he should make all reasonable efforts to ensure 
the passage of the bill in the assembly. Subsequent to 
this Messrs. Hoffman and Loomis, at the request of Mr. 
Wright, visited Albanv. Various consultations were 
held among the leading and influential democratic poli- 
ticians, as well as one or two legislative caucuses, the 
object of which was to fix on a bill which would unite 
the whole democratic vole. No doubt a considerable 
number of the members were at heart honestly opposed 
to any convention. Prudent and discreet men foresaw 
that the passage of a bill for that purpose would render 
elections necessary which would involve the fate of the 
party. It was well known to the whigs, as well as to 
Col. Crain and Mr. Bailey, that the hunkers would vote 
against any convention bill unless it contained a provision 
that the question whether a convention should be called, 
should be submitted to the people, and voted for by a ma- 
jority of them, taking as a test the number of votes given at 
the last election ; and further, that the amendments which 
should be proposed by the convention should he submit- 
ted spparaiely to the people. These amendments to Mr. 
Grain's bill were approved of by Gov. Wright and some 
of his radical friends in the assembly. Col. Crain and 
Mr. Bailey (we name those gentlemen, because we sup- 
pose they represented those radicals who were deter- 
mined at all events to have a convention) knew that if 
those amendments were adopted the whole whig vote 
would be cast against the bill, and they should be left in 
the power of the hunkers, and must either be controlled 



1845.] UONVlCNTlUiN DI1.L. 543 

by theii) or abandon the bill. They had no suspicion 
that Mr. Seymour, and other leading hunkers, would act 
with bad faith, but they suspected that a considerable por- 
tion of the hunker section of the party would, from an 
honest conviction that a convention was unnecessary, 
vote against the bill, and that the votes of that portion, in 
connection with the votes of all the whigs, would prevent 
the passage of any such bill. They feared too, that if the 
clause requiring a majority of votes of the people, taking 
the test proposed by the hunkers, should be incorporated 
in the bill, insidious efforts would be successfully made 
to prevent so many of the electors from voting as would 
defeat the object of the bill. These api)rehensions, and 
it may be jealousies, were encouraged and fostered by 
the whigs. A correspondent, who was an active hun- 
ker member of the assembly, states " that two private 
caucuses were held for the purpose of consulting on 
these amendments, and that two-thirds of the democratic 
members, including Messrs. Russell and Hazeltine from 
St. Lawrence, were in favor of the amendments, and I 
think the others would have been induced to yield but for 
an accident. After the caucus, when the assembly met, 
it was discovered, that in consequence of the absence 
of some of the democratic members, the whigs were in 
the majority. Messrs. Young and Wordeo availed 
themselves of their temporary power, and passed a res- 
olution directing the committee having the bill in charge 
to report the same to the house as it was introduced by 
Mr. Crain, and without amendment. This prevented the 
committee from modifying it, and cut off" any negotia- 
tions for that purpose. When the bill was before the 
house, Mr. Crain and others resisted all changes, and 
forced the majority of the democrats to vote against it. 



544 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1815. 

they having declared that they regarded the majority 
vote and separate amendments as principles which they 
could not waive. The following vote will show the 
state of parties. 

" On the motion of Mr. Hazeltine, of St. Lawrence, to 
amend the bill so that a majority of the voters of the 
state (in the manner above stated) should be required to 
vote for the bill before a convention should be called, 
the vote stood — 

For the amendment, (all democrats) .... 42 

Against it, " 18 

Do. Whigs and Native Americans, 54 

72 

more than tw^o-thirds of the democratic members voting 
for the amendment." 

Nearly the same result was produced on the motion 
of Mr. Russell, of St. Lawrence, to amend the bill so 
that the amendments to the constitution should be sub- 
mitted separately to the people. Forty-two democrats 
and four whigs voted for Mr. Russell's motion, and 30 
democrats and 53 whigs and Native Americans against 
it. On the final passage of the bill there were 83 votes 
in the affirmative, and 33 (all hunker democrats) in the 
negative. 

During the progress of this bill in the assembly it 
elicited one of the best, if not the best, specimens of par- 
liamentary discussion ever exhibited in the capital of the 
state. The debate, though conducted with the most 
commendable courtesy, called into action all the intel- 
lectual power of the distinguished members of the house. 
Messrs. .Tohn Young, Worden. Seymour, Comstock, 
J. Leslie Russell, Bailey, and T. R. Lee, besides many 



1845.1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 545 

Others, severally delivered able and eloquent speeches. 
The discussion not only presented "a keen encounter of 
wits," but a war of highly cultivated minds, which must 
have aflfurded a rich intellectual repast to all men of 
taste who heard it. Those debates, if preserved, and 
they ought to be, may be read at any future time with 
profit and high mental enjoyment and pleasure. If our 
limits would permit, and our sheets were not crowded with 
matter essential to preserve the chain of our narrative, 
we would insert copies of these speeches ; but restricted 
as we are, we will mention that the speeches of Mr. 
Young, as reported in the Evening Journal, and those 
of Mr. Seymour, as given in the Argus, strike us as dis- 
playing remarkable tact, ingenuity, and eloquence. 

Mr. Seymour, with great skill and ability, labored to 
show that if those who required amendments to the con- 
stitution, and he admitted that some highly important 
ones were necessary, would unite, those amendments 
might be submitted to the people by the legislature 
without resorting to a convention. 

" The proposed amendments before the committee," 
said Mr. S., " only require the support of those who 
complain of the difficulty of amending the constitution 
in the constitutional way, to carry them to the people 
for their sanction. In this case, there are no obstacles 
except those interposed by the gentlemen themselves." 

If gentlemen wished to restrict the power of the legis- 
lature to create state indebtedness, Mr. Seymour was 
willing to sustain them in proposing an amendment to 
the people which would afford an etfectual guard against 
the exercise of that power. " But," said Mr. S., " 1 ap- 
prehend there is another reason why certain gentlejnen 
desire a convention, which it is proper to allude to, 

46* 



546 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

thouo;h I shall do so in a manner as little offensive as 
possible. There is reason for suspicion when a great 
party has been overthrown, when the country has repu- 
diated its principles, and it seeks to change its position, 
and produce a new order of things that may be more 
favorable to its designs and objects. The gentleman from 
Ontario remarked, that though the gentleman from New 
York had put forth sentiments which he deemed obnox- 
ious to censure, yet that the whig party was not respon- 
sible for them. Let us see," said the speaker, " if this 
is so. The gentleman from Livingston said that the 
condition of our judiciary amounted to a denial of jus- 
tice — that our courts are blocked up. We tender him 
amendments, and he rejects them. We tell that gentle- 
man and his friends that if he desires to reform our judi- 
ciary, we go with you. We are ready to carry out any 
reasonable and feasible scheme. Do they accept these 
propositions ? No, sir. They say, throw open the ten- 
ures of property, the elective franchise, religious liberty, 
every thing settled by our constitution." 

On the 9th of .April Mr. Young replied to the argu- 
ments of Mr. Seymour and others. He intimated that 
the senate, as a court of errors, ought to be abolished. 
The amendments did not provide against that griev- 
ance ; and if an amendment on that subject, such as he 
desired, and, as he believed, the public demanded, were 
proposed, who believed that two-thirds of that court 
would ever consent to its abolition ? He also stated 
that the proposed amendments did not restrict executive 
patronage. Was it to be expected that two-thirds of 
the legislature could be induced, w^th all the patronage 
of the existing executive, whoever he might be, against 
it, to recommend such a measure ? He highly compli- 



1815.] SPEECH OF MR. VoLNG. 547 

ineiited Mr. Grain for bringing in his bill, and for the 
lirni and decided stand he had taken. 

Mr. Young concluded his speech by the following 
eloquent denunciation <>f acting from party motives on 
constitutional questions : 

• One more consideration, and 1 will yield the floor. 
The gentleman said he was in favor of retaining this in- 
strument in its present form, because it had sustained for 
sixteen years, with the exception of two administrations, 
the party to which he belongs. I am not in favor of any 
constitution because it tends to sustain any particular 
])arty organization, and which looks to party for protec- 
tion, and 1 cannot believe that he is in its favor for such 
reason. Will he say again, that because the ' demo- 
cratic' party, as he calls it, though I do not acknowledge 
it to be such, has sustained itself for sixteen years, that 
is the reason why he would not alter the constitution ? 
Has it come to this ? — that a statesman, learned, intelli- 
gent, distinguished, familiar with questions of constitu- 
tional law, in open day. not only acts from such motives, 
but tears off the mask and tells the world that we are to 
make a constitution in reference to party adrantages ? 
He surely cannot mean this. Let him ask the hard- 
working and intelligent mechanic, what is the purpose 
of a constitution ; will he reply that such is its object ? 
Ask the farmer — the bone and sinew of the country — 
as in the soft twilight of summer he sees the lambs skip- 
ping on the green lawn, if it is for party purposes that 
he wants a constitution ? Or in the autumn, when his 
granaries are full, and he offers thanksgivings, and what 
will be his answer? I will send the gentleman to his 
fiirmer colleague from Oneida, (Sir. M. Brooks,) to my 
friend here from Madison, (Mr. Walrath,) to the farmer 



548 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

from Jefferson, (Mr. Danforth,) and to every farmer in 
this house, to ask them if they are in favor of a consti- 
tution because it protects their party ? And yet, in the 
bosom of that gentleman there breathes the most gen- 
erous emotions. Those hands have been stretched out 
for the relief of human suffering. It is not the man, it 
is the party madness of the day, a madness that, forget- 
ting the future, looks not beyond the day. But to those 
men who look to their posterity, and as they see the 
stream grow wider and deeper as it flows on to the 
great ocean of the future, feel that their blood there 
flows — I send him there to ask, if they would frame a 
constitution to favor party ? They will respond, we 
would frame constitutions for ourselves and for our 
children." 

Mr. Seymour, in his reply to Mr. Young, reiterated 
and enlarged upon the positions he had taken in his first 
speech. He insisted that a convention ought not to be 
called without the fiat of a majority of the electors, and 
that the contemplated amendments ought to be specified 
in the bill. Alluding to Mr. Young, Mr. Seymour said : 

'' I listened the other day with mingled feelings of 
pleasure and regret to the very eloquent and able re- 
marks of the gentleman from Livingston. I listened 
with admiration to the ability displayed by him — to his 
beautifully formed periods — to the tone of patriotism 
which his conceded skill enabled him to impart to his 
remarks ; yet I listened with pain to some of the de- 
signs — I will not say avowed, but manifested — in the 
course of his remarks. I listened with mingled feelings 
to the gilded but vicious sentiments which he put forth 
on that occasion ;. for putrescence sometimes shines. I 
watched with the same feeling of admiration his skilful 



1815. J tfl'EKCIl or .MU. SEYMOUR. 519 

attempts to galvanize the late whig party into existence, 
to suck up all the ill-humors of the body politic, in the 
hope of organizing a party that might cope with the 
great democratic party of this state. I believe, with all 
his ability and ingenuity, he will find the attempt to be 
futile. It was indeed an adroit effort, a skilful eflbrt, a 
bold effort, to combine all the elements of faction in one 
common bond of opposition to democratic principles and 
the democratic party. He held up anti-rentism in such 
terms of gentle reprobation, that even the representa- 
tives of that party here, ' blushed and owned the soft 
impeachment.' " 

Mr. S. concluded by saying, — " If a bill can be passed 
which shall be in accordance with the principles of our 
government — which shall recognise/the doctrine that a 
majority of the people shall govern — that sovereignty 
resides with the people — which shall, in a fair, manly, 
and open manner, indicate the objects of those w-ho con- 
tend for it, I shall be willing to give it my support. I 
have reflected on the subject with anxiety — feeling the 
importance of this measure to the well-being of our 
state. God knows I have endeavored to act on it solely 
w ith a view to the best interest and highest happiness of 
our common constituents. And to those who differ 
w ith me, I accord an equal degree of consideration — an 
equally honest desire to promote the interests of those 
who have intrusted us with power. And I will only 
express the hope, that in approaching this subject, all 
pride of opinion will be laid aside — all personal and po- 
Htical objects overlooked — and that we shall be actua- 
ted only by a wish to consult the best interests of the 
great and glorious state whose representatives we are." 

Messrs. Bailey and Comstock took part in the discus- 



55') POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

sion, and some pretty sharp passages occurred between 
them. Mr. T. R. Lee also deUvered an able speech 
against the convention bill. 

Mr. Young's last speech on this bill was his best. In 
his exordium, he mentioned that Mr. Russell and Mr. T. 
R. Lee had arraigned the minority on that floor for agi- 
tating the question of a convention, saying, by implica- 
tion at least, that if the question was to be presented or 
agitated at all, that agitation should not come from the 
whigs, but from those who had the numerical force 
in the house to carry out their measures. " That we 
have done what the gentlemen charge," said Mr. Young, 
" I do not deny ; 

" ' That we have ta'en away the old man's daughter 
Is most true ; true we have married her ;' 

and that we had the right to do so I submit to the judg- 
ment of the committee, upon the history of the circum- 
stances attendant upon our action. 

" When was it that we first sought to agitate this 
question ? We had just passed through a political cam- 
paign, in which we had been overthrown. That was 
not our fault, but our misfortune. We felt the weight 
which had fallen upon us by the great victory which 
you had obtained over us. But we then thought — how 
justly, others must judge — that overthrown as we were, 
we might still speak, think, and utter our thoughts too, 
if there was nothing in them which the laws of the 
country and of propriety forbade. How did we find 
you ? There was another circumstance known to us — 
for this was not the first time we knew you. We knew 
of the contest at Syracuse, where you were divided. 
When we came here, you met us with the proud claim 



1845.] SPEECH OF MR. YOUNG. 551 

that you were again allied. We saw you— I now ad- 
dress that branch of the party supposed to be in favor of 
a convention — marching up to Syracuse in your strength, 
and overthrowing those allies that now come here and 
tell us not to agitate this question. We had seen more. 
The branch of the party to which I believe you, sir, 
(addressing the chairman, Mr. Bevens,) are attached, 
■was overthrown, by that to which the gentleman from 
Westchester was attached, if rumor and his early acts 
at this session can be relied on. This was your condi- 
tion at Syracuse, but we could not tell what results 
would flow from your action. We saw you grapple 
with a foe full your equal, and though you overthrew 
your antagonists for the day, and Vly Summit was clothed 
in mourning, yet if you had paid much attention to the 
attendant circumstances, you would have found that 
'pomp was the funeral, the black the wo.' The funeral 
knell, if it was sounded, scarcely reached the first farm- 
house. And while you were on that night engaged in 
the revel — nay, for aught I know, when you had brought 
out the golden vessels, an ordinary perception might 
have seen not only the handwriting upon the wall, but 
the whole person, proclaiming what subsequent events 
proved to be too true, that on that night should Belshaz- 
zar the king be slain. If you had then looked into the 
camp of your adversaries, you would have heard the 
noise of mirth drowning the funeral dirge. They looked 
forward to an event, which you see clearly now, when 
he, whom you called the Cato of America, should be 
one of them. They appreciated the man better than 
you, and they felt that while they had lost nothing, you 
had indeed lost your general. This was your condition."' 
The main part of Mr. Young's speech was occupied 



552 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOllK. [l845. 

in replying to Mr. Seymour, and the concluding part is 
SO inimitably fine, that we cannot deny ourselves the 
pleasure of copying it. 

" Tiiere was another remark," said he, " in that speech 
[alluding to a speech delivered by Mr. Seymour] to 
which I listened with mingled pain and pleasure. He 
asserted that the jjarty with whom he acts, would be 
unanimous on this question of a convention. He was 
then in the heyday of power, and I thought — and I beg 
pardon of my barnburning friends for entertaining the 
suspicion — that he would be able to make the party 
unanimous. I thought I saw givings away in some 
quarters. I regarded your forces as scattered in the 
early part of the session, and I feared there would be 
nothiuff left. I knew that the Oneida chief whom you 
had defeated, was not annihilated, but was still hanging 
around your outposts, and once your vote in this house 
appeared to indicate that the real friends of a conven- 
tion were few indeed. But the gentleman evinced too 
clearly in his speech on Saturday, that after all his dis- 
cipline and machinery, he had been compelled to sur- 
render, and we heard him asking for quarter. It was 
painful to witness a spirit so proud thus crushed. Then 
I thought I could look into another place, and as he 
paced his own chamber with nervous tread, I could 
catch some broken fragments of his expressions in re- 
tirement — for thoughts will sometimes come unbidden 
to the lij)s. Long he struggled against his fate before 
he was brought to submit to the state of things surround- 
ing him. The great captain was defeated, and I thought 
I could hear many of the expressions of his wounded 
spirit. 1 thought I heard him say, ' I have done much, 
have worked long, and have labored hard for my party' 



1845.] SPEECH OF MR. YOUNG. 553 

— and I could hear no more. Then I thought I heard 
another fragment from his lips, and itwas in the words 
of the great poet — 

' If I had served my God with half the zeal 
I've served my king' — 

and there that sentence ended. I thought I heard other 
things, and as he repeated the word ' Saratoga,' a pang 
shot across his face and I heard him say — 

• Stab'dst me in my prime of youth 
At Tewksbury'— 

He was not speaking of the battle of Saratoga, but of a 
certain convention in the fifth senate district, and then 
his feelings of nervous excitement seemed still stronger. 
This was not all I heard. In his imagination, he saw 
not merely a handwriting upon the wall, but the full 
length of a living, breathing man. His gray hair hung 
in curls upon his shoulders. I heard nothing then, for 
he said nothing. The countenance of that old man was 
familiar to the gentleman, and it was the last face he 
wished to see at such an hour. I listened, for I thought 
in that great struggle I might hear him pronounce the 
Roman name of Cato. But prostrate and fallen as he 
seemed to regard himself, even then he had no fear of 
Cato. The scene passed by, and let us return from that 
chamber to this hall. The advice which he gave for 
my benefit, looked only to political life for reward. I 
thanked him for his good wishes, but my road lies an- 
other way. I have a single word to say to him. There 
is much of him to cultivate for good. He has shown 
himself the possessor of high and brilliant talents, and if 
he would forget party, and turn aside his passion for 
place and power, and the narrow path of party discipline 

47 



554 POLITICAL HISTORY Ol' .\EVV VOKK. [l845. 

and tactics — tear away the drapery he has thrown around 
himself, and stand out his own Hving self, breathing out 
the purposes of his generous heart, I hope I shall live 
to see that gentleman occupying the highest station that 
his ambition may desire." 

When the convention bill reached the senate, Mr. 
Lott proposed to modify it by requiring that the amend- 
ments should be submitted separately to the people. Mr. 
Hand, who was understood to belong to the radical par- 
ty, and Mr. Beers, who sometimes acted with one party 
and sometimes with the other, voted with the hunker 
senators for Mr. Lott's motion ; but Mr. Bockee, who had 
heretofore generally acted with the hunkers, took strong 
ground in lavor of thebill as it came from the assembly. 
The vote on Mr. Lott's motion stood 15 to 17, all the 
whigs present voting with the radicals. 

Very able and elaborate discussions took place in the 
senate. Messrs. Mitchell, Hand, Lott, Beers, Clark, and 
Wright delivered speeches in favor of the amendments 
to the bill which were offered in the house, and Messrs. 
Bockee, Sherman, Johnson, Porter, Putnam, Folsom, 
and Barlow, on the other side of the question. We 
regret that we cannot give even a synopsis of those 
speeches. On the last evening of the debate, much 
warmth was excited, and some confusion and irritation 
were produced. On the question upon the final passage 
of the bill, Mr. Hand voted for it. There were 18 ayes 
and 14 noes. In the senate, as in the assembly, all the 
whigs resisted any amendments, and voted for the bill 
as introduced by Col. Crain. 

Various motions were made to put off the time for 
taking the final vote on the passage of the bill, by Mr. 
Wright and others, and the debates in committee con- 



1S45.] CANAL APPllOl'niATIONS. 555 



tinned until 12 o'clock at night on Saturday. The two 
houses were to adjourn on Wednesday morning, and 
serious apprehensions were entertained, not without 
cause, by the friends of the bill, that its opponents in- 
tended by these delays to prevent the passage of the law. 
When the committee rose and reported the bill. Judge 
Bockee moved that the final vote should be taken on 
Monday at a certain hour, which was carried, and thus 
the passage of the bill secui'ed. 

A radical friend from Albany, who witnessed the clo- 
sing discussions in the senate, respecting the convention 
bill, wrote to the author that " the friends of Gov. Bouck 
declared the democratic party dissolved, and used every 
epithet and appeal that could operate on the weak and 
the timid." 

Although Gov. Wright evidently accorded with the 
hunkers in their views in relation to the convention bill, 
a bill soon after passed both houses which brought him 
in direct collision with that class of politicians. The 
bill to which we allude was entitled, " An act in relation 
to the Canals." This bill appropriated §197,000 for 
several objects which will be hereafter mentioned ; and 
among others, §55,000, which was in part to be expend- 
ed 'for completing the construction of such portions of 
the unfinished works on the Genesee Valley Canal, as the 
canal commissioners should be of opinion would be most 
economical for the interest of the state ;" and that 
S20.000 should be expended "/or the same purpose^' on 
the Black River Canal. The bill was reported at a late 
day in the session, and seems not to have excited much 
attention in the assembly. On its final passage 28 dem- 
ocrats (including the members from St. Lawrence) aud 
40 whigs voted for it, and 25 democrats and one whig 



556 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 



acrainst it. It is said that it was not expected the hill 
would pass the senate ; hut we cannot learn that it un- 
derwent much discussion there. The vote on its final 
passage in that house was 14 ayes and 9 noes. Six of the 
radical senators, Messrs. Deyo, Yarney, Sedgwick, Tal- 
cott, Barlow, and Sherman, did not vote. Five of those 
senators, it was supposed, were opposed to the bill, and 
were then about the capitol, but left their seats, either 
by accident or design, a few moments before the ques- 
tion was taken. Had these five senators voted against 
the bill, it would not probably have passed. 

On the same day the bill was sent to the governor, 
and on that evening he returned it to the assembly with 
a veto message, which could not have been written that 
day, as it was very long. It occupied a little more than 
ten printed columns in the Albany newspapers. Indeed, 
it is admitted that the message was prepared before the 
bill passed the senate. It was therefore alleged by 
the hunkers, that the radical senators who abandoned 
their seats knew that the bill was to be vetoed, and that 
they declined voting for the purpose of enabling the 
governor to do so. The object, as the hunkers allege, 
was to identify Mr. Wright with the radicals, and to 
create a new issue other than that on the convention 
bill between the two sections. On the other hand, the 
radicals alleged that the bill was got up by Mr. Sey- 
mour for two objects, one of which was, by this small 
appropriation to establish a precedent by which the act 
of 1842 was to be evaded and gradually undermined ; 
and the other, to compel the governor to veto it, and 
thereby render him unpopular on the line of these ca- 
nals. They further allege, that the absence of the five 
senators was owing to causes other than a design or 



1845.] GOV. Wright's veto message. 557 

wish that the bill should pass. Messrs. Talcott, Barlow, 
and Sedgwick, for instance, living on the line of the ca- 
nal, might have supposed that the passage of the bill 
would be defeated without their aid, and were desirous 
to avoid creating personal opponents by voting against 
it. Mr. Seymour, on the contrary, denies any such in- 
tentions as those of which he was charged, and al- 
leges, with great force, as a reason, that he could not 
know when he advocated the bill that five of the gov- 
ernor's friends would avoid voting upon it. 

The radicals further alleged, that the passage of this 
bill first convinced Gov. Wright of the hostility of the 
hunkers to the law of 1842 ; and that at the same mo- 
ment he handed the veto message to his private secre- 
tary, he delivered the convention bill to his messenger 
to deposite in the office of the secretary of state. And 
that although he had previously been opposed to a con- 
vention with unrestricted powers, he now regarded that 
measure as the only means of preserving the credit of 
the state. 

The governor's veto message, like every thing else 
written by him, was executed with great ability. The 
following extracts exhibit the substance of it : 

" The first section of the bill appropriates one hun- 
dred and ninety-seven thousand dollars from the reve- 
nues of the canals, and commands its payment by the 
commissioners of the canal fund, for the following ob- 
jects, and in the following proportions, namely : 

"1. Twenty-five thousand dollars 'for the reconstruc- 
tion of such locks on the Crooked Lake Canal, as the 
canal commissioners shall judge necessary to ensure the 
safety of navigation on that canal.' 

" 2. Eighty-two thousand dollars ' for the purpose of 

47* 



558 POLITICAL HISTOKY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

completing and bringing into use such works on the 
Erie Canal enlargement as the canal commissioners 
shall decide will best promote the interest of the state 
and the facilities of navigation.' 

'• 3. Fifty thousand dollars, ' to be expended upon the 
Genesee Valley Canal for the following objects, to wit : 

'" 1. For the purpose of preserving the work on the 
Genesee Valley Canal which has been finished and not 
brought into use ; 

" ' 2. Or which has not been finished ; 

" ' 3. And the materials that have been procured and 
paid for, or estimated to contractors for such work ; 

" '4. And for the purpose of completing the construc- 
tion of such portions of the unfinished work on the said 
canal as the canal commissioners shall be of opinion will 
be the most economical for the interest of the state.' 

" Twenty thousand dollars to be expended upon the 
Black River Canal, south of Boonville, for the same ob- 
jects as those specified in relation to the Genesee Valley 
Canal ; and twenty thousand dollars to be expended upon 
the Black River Canal, north of Boonville, for the same 
objects." ******* 

" Against the first expenditure authorized, namely, 
' the reconstruction of such locks on the Crooked Lake 
Canal as the canal commissioners shall judge necessary 
to ensure the safety of navigation on that canal,' I make 
no objection." * * * " Against the second expen- 
diture authorized, 'for the purpose of completing and 
bringing into use such works on the Erie Canal enlarge- 
ment as the canal commissioners shall decide will best 
promote the interest of the state and the facilities of 
navigation,' I should not find myself compelled to inter- 
pose objection." * * * "I have come to the same 



1845.] GOV. Wright's veto message. 559 

conclusion in relation to the three first objects of expen- 
diture upon the Genesee Valley Canal, as they are found 
specified in the bill, and are above enumerated, namely : 

"'1. To preserve the work which has been finished 
and not brought into use. 

" * 2. To preserve the work which has not been finished. 

" ' 3. To preserve materials that have been procured 
and paid for, or estimated to contractors for such work.' 

"This," continues the governor, "brings me to the 
provisions of the bill which I find myself unable to ap- 
prove. That relating to the Genesee Valley Canal is 
enumerated above, under the fourth head of expenditure 
upon that canal, and is, by the force of the language last 
above quoted, in eflfect, repeated in reference to the 
Black River Canal. The expenditure upon both is di- 
rected to be ' for the purpose of completing the construc- 
tion of such portions of the unfinished work on the said 
canal as the canal commissioners shall be of opinion will 
be the most economical for the interest of the state.' 
This enactment I am compelled to consider as putting 
an end to the policy of a suspension of the public works, 
until the debt of the state shall be brought within the 
safe and certain power and control of its revenues, with- 
out taxation upon the people ; and as a distinct resump- 
tion of those works, under circumstances quite as objec- 
tionable, in reference to the provisions and policy of the 
suspension act of 1842, and the other legislation, previ- 
ous and subsequent, upon the same subject, as such a 
resumption would be without any forms of limitation 
upon the expenditure. 

" I am well aware that this bill preserves the forms of 
limitation, and that its friends appear to have convinced 
themselves that its provisions are in strict accordance 



5G0 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

with the provisions and policy of the suspension act, 
and of course, I presume, with the other legislation to 
which I refer. In this view of the enactment in the bill 
now under immediate consideration, I am wholly una- 
ble, after the most careful examination, and mature re- 
flection, to concur with those who hold these opinions, 
and hence my inability to approve and sign the bill itself, 
while this provision constitutes a part of it. I will pro- 
ceed to state the grounds of my dissent, and my objections 
to the enactment, as concisely as shall be consistent 
with a clear and full understanding of them." 

He then proceeds to show that this appropriation is 
in violation of the pledges contained in the law author- 
izing the construction of the Cayuga and Seneca, Oswe- 
go and Chenango canals, and entirely inconsistent with 
the provisions and pledges of the act of 1842. 

The governor concludes his message by declaring 
that he cannot express the regret he feels at being under 
any circumstances compelled to make a decision con- 
trary to the opinion of the majority of the legislature ; 
" still," he says, with that peculiar modesty which char- 
acterized every act of his life, " my most solemn con- 
victions assure me, that I but discharge an imperious 
constitutional duty, unmixed with, and uninfluenced by, 
a single personal feeling or interest of which I am con- 
scious. That the consequence of my action is but a call 
upon the legislature to reconsider its own, and not a ne- 
cessary rejection of the bill, is a gratifying reflection ; 
and I am not without hope that the considerations I have 
presented, imperfect and tedious as that presentation is, 
may induce the two houses to come to my conclusion, 
that the bill, in its present shape, and with its present 
provisions, ought not to pass. If, on the contrary, these 



1845.] WM. KENT J. W. EDMONDS. 561 

considerations shall seem to deserve no weight, and the 
bill shall pass, notwithstanding the objections, the harnn, 
if any, of this communication, must fall upon myself, 
where it should rest, if the objections are not well found- 
ed. Should neither of these results follow, and the bill 
fail for a want of the constitutional vote, a majority of 
both houses continuing to be in its favor ; in that case, I 
shall cheerfully submit to the people of the state the de- 
cision of the issue which will be formed between myself 
and the majority of the legislature, rejoicing in the con- 
viction that the difference of opinion on my part is un- 
accompanied by one personal feeling unfriendly to a 
single individual of that majority, and determined that 
the decision of our common constituents shall be sub- 
mitted to by me, in the same spirit in which I have 
joined the issue." 

We have given these ample exti*acts from this mes- 
sage, because it has been alleged, and is believed by 
many, that this was the principal cause of the loss of Mr. 
Wright's election in the autumn of 1846. 

To the great regret of the New York bar, and of the 
public generally, William Kent, whose appointment as 
judge of the first circuit has been heretofore noticed, re- 
signed his office in consequence of impaired health, and 
'the governor appointed John W. Edmonds, formerly a 
prominent member of the state senate, in his place. 

Mr. Edmonds, by the manner in which he discharged 
the duties of the office, soon furnished evidence that the 
selection was judicious. He has proved himself an able 
judge, and a firm, independent defender of human rights. 
The people of the first circuit have evinced that they 
properly appreciate his merits by electing him a judge 
of the Supreme Court in the first district. 



562 POLITICAL UISTOKY OF NEW YOEK. [1845. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Bill to prevent persons appearing^ disfriiised and armed — Anti-rent Conven- 
tion at Bern — No Democratic legislative Caucus was held at the close 
of the session — Address of the Radical members — Whig legislative Cau- 
cus and Address — Democratic Mass Meeting at Albany — Different opin- 
ions as to the course pursued by Governor Wright — J. A. Spencer and 
Samuel Young elected Senators — General Result of the Election ia 
November, 1845 — Death of General Jackson — Death of Judge Suther- 
land — Death of Francis Dwight — His Character. 

On one of the first days of the session of 1845, a bill, 
in pursuance of the recommendation of the governor, 
was introduced, entitled " An act to prevent persons ap- 
pearing disguised and armed." It authorized the arrest 
of all persons who appeared having their faces concealed 
or discolored ; and, upon being brought before a magis- 
trate, on failure to give a good account of themselves, 
it declared that they should be adjudged vagrants, and 
{mnished accordingly. The bill armed the sherifl'with 
the power of the county, and made it highly penal for 
any person to refuse to aid him in the discharge of the 
duties imposed on him by that act. This bill passed 
rapidly through both houses, and became a law on the 
28th of January.* 



* We omitted to mention in its proper place that an anti-rent state con- 
vention was held at Bern, in the county of Albany, on the 15th of Jan- 
uary, the proceedings of which were published in a well-conducted anti- 
rent newspaper printed at Albany, called " The Guaiiuian of the Soil."' 
These proceedings evinced great moderation, and on the whole were cred- 
itable to those who constituted the assemblage. Dr. F. Crounse of Guil- 
derland, was president pro tern. It is stated that eleven counties, and a, 
much greater number of associations, wore represented, viz : Albany, 



1845.] ANTI-RENT CONVENTION. 563 

It has already been mentioned that at the time the 
state officers were chosen, Mr. Van Buren and Mr. 
Bouck were elected regents of the University. The 
former, soon after his appointment, addressed a letter to 
the president of the senate declining to accept the office, 
and on the 10th dav of Mav, Jabez D. Hammond was 
appointed to supply the vacancy. 

The legit^lature adjourned on the 14th day of May. 
For the first time for many years, no caucus of the dem- 
ocratic members, for the purpose of addressing their 
constituents, was held. A joint committee of the two 
houses for calling caucuses then existed, but in conse- 
quence of some misunderstanding, no call for a caucus 
was made. That committee consisted partly of hun- 
kers and partly of radicals. The committee on the part 
of the senate consisted of Messrs. Porter, Clark, and 



Rensselaer, Schoharie, Delaware, Montgomery, Schenectady, Greene, 
Suilivau, Columbia, Ulster, and Olsego. The following were the officers 
of the convention : 

Hugh Scott, of Albany county, president. 

William Murphy, Albany county ; Heury Conklin, Rensselaer; D. L. 
Stembergh, Schoharie ; Orvillo H. Wilcox, Columbia ; Harvey I. Hamil- 
ton, Montgomery; John Ladd, Jr., Schenectady; Martin Lamy, Ulster; 
Hiram Faulkner, Greene ; Robe'rt Sloat, Otsego ; Wm. Morrison, Dela- 
ware ; Divine More, Sullivan, vice-presidents. 

Thos. Ten Eyck, Rensselaer ; Abm. Spickerman, Schoharie ; John 
D. Langdien, Columbia, Becretaries. 

The convention was addressed by Mr. John Mayham, of Schoharie. 
Resolutions, disapproving of the outrages in Rensselaer and Columbia, but 
avowing a determination to adhere to the anti-rent cause and candidates, 
were adopted. They also resolved to petition the legislature ; and ap- 
iwinted a committee to meet in Albany, with the petitions, on the 5th of 
February, and remain in attendance upon the legislature as long as such 
attendance should be advantageous. The following persons were appointed 
a state central committee : Lawrence Van Dusen, East Bern, Albany 
county ; Abm. Spickerman, Bernville, Schoharie county ; John Bowdish, 
Root, Montgomery county ; Luther Butts, Kortright, Delaware county ; 
Harry Betts, Rensselaer county. 



564 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845, 

Lett. After the adjournment of the legislature, each 
section charged the other with designedly preventing a 
caucus, and rather an angry correspondence was carried 
on between Senators Porter and Clark on the subject, 
which was published in the Atlas and Argus, in which 
they mutually accused each other with a course of con- 
duct unfriendly to a union of action of the democratic 
party. The truth probably was, that both parties, be- 
lieving it impossible to unite in an address which would 
be satisfactory to all, were disinclined to meet together 
in caucus ; and that each party desired to produce an 
impression abroad that the failure of presenting to their 
constituents the usual address was chargeable on the 
adverse party. 

The radicals, however, did prepare an address, which 
was signed by thirteen senators and thirty members of 
the assembly. The material part of this address, to 
which the hunkers could not subscribe, was, that it took 
ground on the convention bill adverse to the principles 
of a majority vote by the people, according to the test 
which had been proposed by the minority in the assem- 
bly, and against a separate submission of the amend- 
ments to the constitution which the convention might 
propose. Much complaint was made by the hunker 
newspapers against the radicals for publishing this ad- 
dress, as irregular, contrary to the usages of the demo- 
cratic party, and as factious. 

After the adjournment of the legislature, the whigs 
published an address, reported by a committee of 
which Mr. Worden was chairman, and which was 
probably drawn by him. It was signed by forty-nine 
members of the legislature. 

In the address the signers of it complain of the finan- 



1845.] WHIG LEGISLATIVE ADDRESS. 565 

cial act of 1842, as construed by the governor in his 
veto message of the canal bill. They present an elab- 
orate view of the financial operations of the state. They 
allege that ten millions of the existing canal debt was 
contracted before the whig party in 1839 came into 
power, and they charge that the practice of loaning the 
public money to corporations was begun by the demo- 
crats while they constituted the dominant party in the 
state. They give an historical account of their legisla- 
tive proceedings on the subject of the constitutional 
convention, and they justify the measure upon the ground 
that amendments to the constitution had become indis- 
pensable, and that experience had proved that it was 
morally impossible to agree on the details of some es- 
sential alterations in the organic law, which would be 
approved by two consecutive legislatures, in the manner 
directed by the constitution of 1821. 

In respect to national affairs, they declare themselves 
in favor of the tariff of 1842. They denounce in strong 
terms the annexation of Texas, and they charge the 
democratic party in the New York legislature with in- 
directly favoring that measure, by refusing to act upon 
resolutions condemning the project, which the whig 
members had proposed. 

The address was an able one, and seems to have 
been well calculated to make an impression on the mind 
of the public. 

During the recess of the legislature, and before the 
general election in November, there was not much ap- 
parent political excitement. The whigs were quietly 
endeavoring to strengthen themselves in the legislature 
at the coming election, but serious divisions began to 
appear in their ranks. The Courier and Enquirer came 

48 



566 POLITICAL HISTORV^ OF NEW YORK. [l845. 

out openly against the convention, and more than insin- 
uated that Mr. Young, Mr. Weed, and others, were too 
radical in their principles, and that they advocated wild 
and revolutionary theories, calculated eventually to 
unsettle the rights of property, and destroy social 
order. Gov. Seward was charged, if not in the public 
papers, in private circles, with abolition propensities, 
and a design to enlist the Irish Catholics in his favor 
personally. 

The masses of the democratic party in the country 
counties, although they were not inclined to take sides 
either with hunkers or radicals, amazed and bewildered 
by the scenes which had occurred in the capital, did not 
appear disposed to act with energy, or their accustomed 
zeal. An effort was made, soon after the adjournment 
of the legislature, to inspire more enthusiasm in the 
masses of the democratic party, by getting up a meeting 
at the capitol, called by the general republican commit- 
tee, to respond to the convention bill and the veto mes- 
sage ; and similar meetings were called in New York and 
other places. The meeting at Albany was attended by 
some of the most respectable citizens of that city. It 
appears to have been attended chiefly by the radicals. 
John Keyes Paige was chosen president, and Colonel 
James M'Kown and nine other gentlemen vice-presi- 
dents. Letters were received and read from Ex-Presi- 
dent Van Buren and George P. Barker. A committee, 
consisting of thirteen persons, among whom were Peter 
Cagger, H. H. Van Dyck, Bradford R. Wood, and Nich- 
olas Hill, Jr., was appointed. The meeting was elo- 
quently addressed by the attorney-general, John Van 
Buren, and David B. Gafney, Esq., a talented and elo- 
quent adopted citizen. 



1845.] DEMOCRATIC MASS MEETING AT ALBANY. 567 

The first resolution of the meeting was in the follow- 
ing words : 

" Resolved, That we hail with unbounded satisfaction 
the veto of Gov. Wright of ' the act in relation to the 
canals,' and the exposition of the financial policy of the 
state, with which he has accompanied his objections to 
the passage of that bill. And regarding, as we have 
been taught to do by the illustrious example of Jackson, 
the veto power as a prerogative in the hands of the ex- 
ecutive, to be wielded for the protection of the rights 
and liberties of the whole people, against the errors of 
judgment, and departures from sound principle of the 
legislative department, subject to the approval of the 
common constituency — we accept this exercise of that 
prerogative, as one required by every consideration of 
justice to the tax payers and to the public creditor, and 
of regard for the public welfare and the pledged honor 
of the state ; and that as a portion of the constituency 
to which it appeals, we respond to it by the unanimous 
and emphatic declaration of our sincere approval, and 
the pledge of a support, as firm and vigorous and patri- 
otic as the measure in whose behalf it is tendered." 

Other resolutions were passed, warmly approving of 
the convention bill. 

The object of the sagacious gentleman who was most 
efficient in getting up this meeting,* and who, it is pre- 
sumed, drew the resolutions, seems to have been to 
make the convention and veto message, measures of the 
party, and to have gone into the canvass at the next 
election on such issues as might be formed in relation to 
those measures. The expectation, then, was, that these 



* Dudley Burwell, Esquire. 



568 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 

two measures would be taken up by the radical news- 
papers, and the subjects connected with those measures 
warmly and vigorously discussed and earnestly pressed 
on the attention of the public during the summer and 
fall. They anticipated that the effect of such a course 
of proceedings would be to produce a renovated demo- 
cratic party, who would have the control of the conven- 
tion when it should meet. In these expectations they 
were wholly disappointed. " This idea," [the idea of 
making the convention bill and veto message issues,] 
says an intelligent radical friend, in a letter to the au- 
thoi", " was, to the utter astonishment of the radicals, 
abandoned, and after a few weeks both measures were 
permitted to sleep in quietness. Even the Atlas seldom 
alluded to them. My inference is, that many of the old 
republican friends of Gov. Wright besought him not to 
press these measures too hard, and that ultimately they 
would support them and maintain the organization of 
the party ; that he yielded to these suggestions from the 
best motives that can warm the heart, but that he mis- 
took then, as he constantly did till the vote of 1846, the 
character and objects of these pretended friends. The 
time for discussion was the summer of 1845. It was 
allowed to pass unimproved, and the election of that fall, 
in many counties, proceeded upon old issues." * * * 
" To one familiar as I was for several years with the 
majorities of the several counties in the state, and with 
the sentiments of the people as radical or conservative, 
I confess I have watched the progress of these matters 
with great solicitude. Until the last moment Governor 
Wright was constantly recurring to his old friends, and 
relying upon their personal assurances that they would 
never desert him. He believed it." * * * "I tried 



1845.] GOV. WRIGHT AND HIS FRIENDS. 569 

myself to arouse him, but I found that it was vain. The 
confidence in former friends is stronger than the beUef 
in new principles. He hesitated between them — he tried 
hard to reconcile them, failed, and was lost." 

This is the view taken of the conduct of Gov. Wright 
by one of his radical friends. We will place in juxtaposi- 
tion with it the inferences and opinion of a distinguished 
hunker : 

" The result of the session (of 1845) was to make 
John Young governor, as the whigs felt he had secured 
the passage of the convention bill under circumstances 
calculated to divide and distract the democratic party. 
The canal bill veto was injurious to Gov. Wright. It 
appears to have been the fate of that distinguished man 
to be destroyed by those claiming to be his parlictdar 
friends, but who constantly used him for some selfish 
purpose." * * * " In my judgment, Gov. Wright 
committed some fatal errors at this session. I think his 
own viexcs in the main were correct, but he allowed 
himself to be overruled, and in some instances he evinced 
a want of firmness. This was particularly true in rela- 
tion to the convention and canal bills. He approved of 
the amendments to the convention bill which were pro- 
posed and supported by a majority of the democratic 
members of the legislature ; and as the minority who 
opposed these amendments claimed to be his particular 
friends, had he acted with firmness and energy he cer- 
tainly could have controlled them. Had he done so, 
the division of the party would have been avoided, and 
the canal bill would not have been passed, and his veto 
would not have defeated him in 1846. Gov. Wright 
had a better faculty for making friends than for control- 
ling them. In this respect he lacked executive talent." 

48* 



570 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [1845. 

One object we have in presenting copies of these let- 
ters is to show how very differently honest men will 
judge of the same act and same transaction. The au- 
thors of these letters are both men of high character for 
honor and integrity, both are profound and sagacious 
politicians, both are excellent judges of men, and of the 
consequences which a given political act is most likely 
to produce ; and although these gentlemen concur in the 
opinion that Gov. Wright committed two capital errors, 
yet one of them charges as an error what the other 
ascribes to his wisdom and virtue. One says he was 
ruined by trusting to his " old friends,'' while the other 
affirms his ruin was produced by being too much influ- 
enced by his "particular friends," and neglecting his 
" old ones." Both, however, concur in the opinion (not- 
withstanding one of them was his opponent) that Gov. 
Wright was a great and good man ; and though both 
think he sometimes erred in judgment, both believe and 
declare that he was always governed by pure and pa- 
triotic motives. 

Notwithstanding all the difficulties and embarrass- 
ments with which the democratic party were surround- 
ed, they succeeded in electing a majority of the members 
of the legislature at the November election. The whigs, 
in the third district, elected Mr. Van Schoonhoven, of 
Troy, who was also the nominee of the Anti-renters, 
who polled a large vote in that district ; and they like- 
wise elected Mr. Joshua A. Spencer in the fifth district. 
This district was largely democratic at the election in 
1844; we believe it gave some two thousand majority. 
Mr. Spencer was elected in consequence of a schism in 
Oneida county between the hunker and radical demo- 
crats, by means of which that county, which had here- 



1845.] COL. YOUNG. 571 

tofore given from eight to ten hundred democratic ma- 
jority, now elected whig members of the assembly, and 
gave Mr. Spencer a majority. There were also some 
local difficulties in the county of Otsego, which was de- 
cidedly democratic, but which, in consequence of those 
difficulties, gave .Mr. Spencer a majority of more than 
six hundred. There was still another circumstance 
which greatly aided the success of Mr. Spencer. He 
was well known through the district as a lawyer de- 
servedly eminent in his profession, distinguished for 
probity and integrity, and for purity of character. The 
whigs also, as usual, succeeded in electing their senato- 
rial candidate in the eighth district. The democratic 
party elected their candidates in all the other districts. 
Col. Young had at an early day been unanimously nomi- 
nated by the democrats of the fourth district. In his letter 
by which he signified his acceptance of the nomination, 
after stating that " with respect to the honor of that sta- 
tion, every individual wish and every personal aspira- 
tion had long since been gratified," and that had the 
nomination depended on his own act, that act would not 
have been performed ; but that the generous and abi- 
ding confidence which had spontaneously produced his 
nomination at that time, had imposed on him an addi- 
tional debt of gratitude which time could not obliterate, 
and which no effort of his could repay ; he added, " And 
although some remnant of the spirit of thirty-six {not 
seventy-six) may yet remain in the legislature, yet I feel 
that I ought not to shrink from a position which may 
again subject me to its bitterness." 

His bold denunciation of the banking monopoly, and 
of public expenditures for internal improvements which 
he as a senator during the year to which he alluded had 



572 POLITICAL HISTORy or NEW YORK. [1845. 

so resolutely opposed, called out a vigorous opposition 
to him in some parts of the district. He was, neverthe- 
less, elected over a very popular opponent, Mr. Hopkins, 
by more than one thousand majority. 

Edward Sanford, son of the late chancellor, was 
elected from the first district, in place of Mr. Varian ; 
Saxton Smith, from Putnam county, in place of Judge 
Bockee, of the second district ; William H. Van Schoon- 
hoven, from the third district, as successor of Erastus 
Corning ; Samuel Young, from the fourth, in lieu of Ed- 
ward Varney ; Joshua A. Spencer, in place of George 
C. Sherman ; Thomas J. Wheeler, from the sixth, suc- 
ceeded Dr. Faulkner ; Richard H. Williams, from the 
seventh, in place of William Bartlit ; and Gideon Hard 
was re-elected from the eighth district. In the senate 
elect there were twenty-five democrats, six whigs, and 
one Native American. The abolitionists supported can- 
didates in each of the districts, and their aggregate sen- 
atorial vote was 15,747. The votes for a convention 
were 214,700 ; and against it, 33,032 — showing a ma- 
jority in favor of that measure of 181,668 ! 

Of the members of the assembly the democrats elected 
74, the whigs 52, and the Anti-renters elected two from 
the county of Delaware. 

On the 8th of June, Gen. Andrew Jackson died at 
the Hermitaa:e in Tennessee. He retained his intellec- 
tual vigor, his fortitude and personal courage, which he 
possessed to as great a degree as any human being who 
ever lived, to the last moment of his Hfe. One of the 
last sentences which he uttered was, " I have fulfilled 
my destiny on earth, and it is better that this worn-out 
frame should go to rest, and my spirit take up its abode 
with the Redeemer." 



1845. J DEATH OF FRANCI3 DWIGHT. 573 

Jacob Sutherland, who had been in public life more 
than twenty years, died at Albany on the 13th of May, 
at about the age of sixty years. In the year 1822 he 
was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, and held 
that station for fourteen years, when he resigned the 
office. He was not only a learned lawyer, an able, im- 
partial, and independent judge, but a man of genius and 
elegant literary attainments. His death was deeply felt 
and universally lamented. 

Francis Dvvight, the editor of the Common School 
Journal, and superintendent of schools in the county of 
Albany, died on the 15th day of December. We have 
heretofore spoken of this amiable and excellent man, and 
yet we would not part with him without an expression 
of our veneration for his virtues, and "a lament, which, 
alas! is unavailing, that he should have been taken from 
us in the prime of his life," and in the midst of his use- 
fulness. It is pleasant to turn from viewing the fierce 
struggle of selfish and infuriated politicians, and contem- 
plate retired and modest virtue, and disinterested but 
ardent benevolence. It was honorable to the citizens 
of Albany, that the most respectable literary associations 
of that city, and several public bodies, held meetings 
and passed resolutions in testimony of their respect for 
the memory of this truly benevolent and meritorious, 
but unpretending individual. 



574 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Legislature of 1846 — Col. Grain and Mr. Bailey, candidates for nomina- 
tion to the Speakership — Mr. Grain nominated and elected Speaker — 
Delos W. Dean, Clerk — Anti-Rent Outrages — Trial of the Insurgents 
in Delaware County — Judge Parker— John Van Buren— Governor's 
Message — Legislative Proceedings — Debate in the Senate on the Reso- 
lutions proposed by Mr. Jones — Bill on the subject of State Printer — 
Proceedings and Debates thereon in the Senate and A.-^sembly — Act 
abolishing Distress for Rent— Mr. A. G. Ghatfield chosen Speaker pro 
lem. — Col. Young elected President pro tern, of the Senate — R. E. 
Temple appointed Adjutant-General — Hiram Gray appointed Judge of 
the Sixth Circuit — L. H. Sanford Vioe-Chancellor of the First District — 
Death of Jonas Earl. 

Although the first senatorial district had lost the ser- 
vices of Mr. Varian, late mayor of New York, a worthy 
man and fair-minded legislator, it had chosen in his 
place Mr. Edward Sanford, who, without assuming to be 
a leader, was really a talented and useful member. 

Col. Young and Mr. J. A. Spencer added greatly to the 
talents in the senate. Mr. Spencer's great legal learn- 
ing, industry, and abilities, rendered his services as a 
member of the court of dernier resort, of inestimable 
value. 

In the assembly, though the democratic party had lost 
the distinguished and able gentleman who represented 
the county of Oneida the preceding year, it had gained 
a democratic representation from the city of New York, 
among whom we perceive the name of that worthy and 
excellent legislator, John Townsend. Mr. Tilden, from 



184fi.] MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 575 

New York, and Mr. John D. Stevenson, whom we have 
mentioned as having had a very important agency in 
disclosing the Glentworth misdemeanors, were influen- 
tial members of the assembly, and took an active part in 
its proceedings. Mr. J. Leslie Russell, a very valuable 
member of the last assembly, from St. Lawrence, and an 
estimable man, had declined a re-election, but his place 
was supplied by Mr. Bishop Perkins, of Ogdensburgh, a 
lawyer of long standing in that village, and of a charac- 
ter highly respectable. 

In consequence of a local question in Schoharie re- 
specting the site for a new courthouse, General Thomas 
Lawyer and Mr. Thomas Smith, both residents of the 
same town, (Cobleskill,) were elected, although the for- 
mer was a leading democrat, and the latter a zealous 
whig. Gen. Lawyer had been a member of congress, 
and his age and experience gave him much weight in the 
house, and the talents and industry of Mr. Smith ren- 
dered him a valuable acquisition to the whigs. 

Andrew G. Chatfield, who had formerly been a mem- 
ber of the assembly from Steuben, was again returned 
from that county, and by his courtesy and conciliatory 
address, as well as by the tact and talent evinced by him 
in debate, afforded much aid to the democratic party in 
that house. 

WiNFiELD Scott Sherwood, whom we have hereto- 
fore mentioned as an unsuccessful candidate for the ap- 
pointment by Gov. Bouck to the oflice of adjutant-gen- 
eral, was at this session returned as a member from the 
county of Warren, and proved himself to be one of the 
; ablest, as he was one of the most zealous, members of 
the hunker section. Before this session closed. Gov. 
Bouck must have been convinced that he misjudged 



576 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 

when he refused to appoint him to the office for which 
he was recommended by his friends. 

That frank and honest-hearted man, WilHam C. Grain, 
from the county of Herkimer, the candidate of the radi- 
cals for speaker against Mr. Seymour, was re-elected, 
and again appeared at the capitol. 

But the most talented maji of the radical party, and 
perhaps of the whole democratic party, was Benjamin 
Bailey, of Putnam county. He was, as will be recol- 
lected, a member of the last assembly. Judging merely 
from the printed reports of the proceedings of that body, 
(for we have no personal acquaintance with him,) we 
are inclined to the opinion that he had too much acer- 
bity of temper, but he certainly did possess a very acute 
and discerning mind, and talents of a high order. 

The whigs had several men in this assembly of very 
superior talents. Messrs. John Young and Alvah Wor- 
den were again returned as members of that body. Of 
the tact, address, and talents of these gentlemen, and 
also of Mr. A. W. Young, we have heretofore spoken. 

Mr. Lot Clark, from the county of Niagara, was for- 
merly a very active and efficient democratic Bucktail 
politician from the county of Chenango, and in the year 
1824 was elected a member of congress from the dis- 
trict of which that county makes a part. He afterwards 
migrated to Florida, but being dissatisfied with Mr. Van 
Buren, of whom from early life he was a zealous friend, 
in consequence of his principles in relation to banking, 
and his recommendation of the sub-treasury, he came 
out in opposition to the administration, and upon his re- 
turn to this state was as zealous a whig as he had for- 
merly been a democrat. Mr. Clark is a man of great 
mental resources, active and energetic in all the pursuits 



184G.] MEMBERS OE THE ASSE.-MBLY. 577 

in which he engages, a warm-hearted, liberal friend, but 
an uncomfortable and rather formidable opponent. Mr. 
Clark was a conservative whig. 

Ira Harris was re-elected from the county of Albany. 
In the fall of 1844 he had been nominated by the anti- 
renters while he was on a journey to the far West, with- 
out hi.s knowledge, and without any pledges that he 
would support their peculiar views. They knew his 
general principles with regard to individual rights, and 
they, as all who were acquainted with Ira Harris knew, 
that he was a man of integrity and honor, and they 
therefore did not hesitate to select him as their candi- 
date. The whigs also nominated him, and he was elect- 
ed ; and in the same way he was re-elected in 1845. 
Mr. Harris had, before this time, devoted himself to the 
practice of his profession, and was scarcely known as a 
politician ; but when he came into the legislature, he 
immediately afforded evidence of distinguished talents 
and political tact, and he is now a justice of the Supreme 
Court, elected from the third district, and discharges 
ably the duties of that high office. 

William G. Bloss was re-elected from the county of 
Monroe, and was an industrious and efficient member. 

Dr. John Miller, of Courtland county, added to the 
whigs, in the assembly of 1846, the weight of his char- 
acter and the benefit of his counsel. He had, on several 
occasions previously, been a member of the New York 
legislature, and also a member of congress from the dis- 
trict in which he resided. He was a man of great de- 
cision and energy of character, and deservedly highly 
esteemed in his own county as a professional man and 
patriotic citizen. The author hopes he may be excused 
for paying this tribute of respect to a friend of long 

49 



578 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [1846. 

standing, and one with whom he acted during the wars 
between the Clintonians and Bucktails. 

Before we conclude our remarks on tiie general char- 
acter of the members who composed the legislature of 
1846, it may be proper to state, that, although we have 
stated that the county of Delaware only, elected anti- 
rent members, the members from several other counties, 
who were characterized as whigs or democrats, were 
in fact elected by anti-rent votes, having been selected 
from the tickets which had been formed by the whigs or 
democrats, and nominated by anti-rent conventions. 
Thus, Ira Harris is classed as a wliig, and Robert D. 
Watson and Thomas L. Shafer as democrats, from Al- 
banv county, who were in truth elected by the balance- 
power held by the anti-renters. The same remark is 
applicable to the v, hig members returned from Rens- 
selaer, and we presume to the democratic members re- 
turned from Columbia counties. 

We have already stated that there were seventy-four 
democratic members elected to the assembly, and of 
these a large majority were radicals. The public mind 
was therefore prepared to expect that Col. Crain, having 
been the radical candidate the last year for speaker, 
against Mr. Seymour, would now be elected to that of- 
fice without opposition, or at any rate, without a com- 
petitor from the ranks of the radicals. But this expec- 
tation did not prove to be well founded. When the 
members collected at Albany, Mr. Bailey, of Putnam, 
was supported as a candidate for speaker by a consider- 
able portion of them, and his claims were zealously 
pressed. A caucus was held on the evening before the 
day when the session was to commence, attended by 
seventy members. Mr. Sydney Lawrence, from Frank- 



JSIO.] ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSEMBLY, 579 

lin county, formerly a senator, was chosen chairman, 
when the members proceeded to ballot for a candidate 
for speaker. The balloting went on, until the name of 
Gideon O. Chase, from Tioga, was called, when his right 
to vote was challenged by Mr. Wells, an ardent, but 
talented young man, who was a member from the city 
of New York, on the ground that he had been elected 
in opposition to a regular nominee of a democratic con- 
vention of that county. This was a new question, 
but his right to vote was advocated by Mr. Bailey, and 
Mr. Perkins, of St. Lawrence county, and his ballot was 
eventually received. The result of the balloting was, 
that Mr. Grain received 48 votes and Mr. Bailey 22, 
whereupon the nomination of Mr. Grain, on motion of 
Mr. Bailey, was declared to be unanimous. The meet- 
ing then proceeded to ballot for clerk, the result of which 
was that Delos W. Dean, of Otsego county, obtained 40 
votes, and James F. Starbuck, of Jefferson county, 33 : 
Mr. Dean was thereupon unanimously declared duly 
nominated. 

The whigs nominated John Young for speaker, and 
George W. Weed for clerk. 

When the assembly met the next morning for organi- 
zation, Mr. Grain received 73 votes for speaker, Mr. 
Young 44, and Mr. Harris 7, being, as is presumed, all 
the anti-rent votes in the assembly, except his own, 
which he gave to Mr. Thomas Smith. Mr. D. W. Dean 
was elected clerk by a vote of 77 to 48. 

The governor sent in his message at the usual hour, 
but, before remarking on it, we will state what ought to 
have been related in the preceding chapter. 

During the summer of 1845, some alarming outrages 
were committed by the anti-rent associations, called In- 



580 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

dians, on account of their dress and artificial color, in 
the counties of Columbia and Rensselaer. The law to 
prevent persons appearing disguised and armed, did not, 
as it was hoped it would, have the effect to prevent or 
quiet those disturbances. 

In Columbia county, a deputy-sheriff was shot at and 
wounded, and various other outrages were committed. 
The most active agent in exciting those disturbances 
l^Doct. Boughton) was arrested and brought to trial, but 
all the jury would not agree to convict him. On a sec- 
ond trial he was convicted and sentenced to the state 
prison. In Delaware and Schoharie frequent riots oc 
curred, and finally, on the 7th of August, Mr. Steel, a 
deputy-sheriff, and a very w^orthy citizen, while engaged 
in the discharge of his official duties, was attacked by an 
armed party, and inhumanly murdered in open daylight. 

The party styling themselves Indians were so numer- 
ous in the county of Delaware, and so bold in their re- 
sistance to the law, that the peaceable citizens of that 
county applied to Gov. Wright to declare the county in 
a state of insurrection. The governor acted on this 
emergency with great promptness and energy. He 
issued a spirited proclamation, and at the same time or- 
dered out an efficient military force. The proclamation 
pointed out the enormities which had been committed, 
it exhibited with great clearness and force the necessity 
of maintaining law and order, and solemnly appealed to 
the tenants, who felt aggrieved in consequence of the 
rigorous tenures under which some held their lands, to 
seek relief and redress by constitutional measures alone, 
and to support the laws and civil institutions of the 
country as the only means of ensuring the preservation 
and safety of their own lives and property. 



1846.] ANTI-RENT TRIALS. 581 

" To the disguised men themselves," said the governor, 
"and those less worthy than they, who press them for- 
ward into the danger from which they themselves shrink, 
I have only to say, that wrong acts never serve even a 
good cause ; that persistence in crime cannot mitigate 
the heavy weight upon the mind and conscience of the 
first crime ; and that no disguises are perfect enough to 
protect the heart from the eye of Him who sees its 
thoughts and intents. 

"For the sake of the character of our state, and of 
our people, as well as for the peace, and prosperity, and 
harmony of our society, I earnestly hope that the day 
may not be distant, when I may be called upon to dis- 
charge another and a far more pleasant duty, under a 
provision of the same law under which I now act, by 
revoking this proclamation. 

" Yet the law must be enforced. Our institutions 
must be preserved. Anarchy and violence must be pre- 
vented. The lives of our citizens must be protected, 
and murder must be punished. And when that portion 
of our citizens who, now transported by passion and led 
away by singular delusions, are ready to strike down 
the law and its ministers, shall become convinced that a 
different course is alike the part of wisdom and of duty, 
and shall again submit themselves to the laws of the 
state, then, and not before, can I expect to be permitted 
to perform that more pleasing duty." 

A special Court of Oyer and Terminer was soon after 
held by Judge Parker in the county of Delaware, (the 
county in which he commenced and pursued his pro- 
fessional business until he was appointed judge,) which 
continued several weeks. A considerable number of 
the accused were convicted, and sentenced to punish- 

49* 



582 , POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846, 

ment in the state prison, and two were convicted of 
murder, and sentenced to be hung. The death penalty 
was afterwards commuted by Gov. Wright for confine- 
ment in the state prison during Ufe. 

It was conceded by all that Judge Parker presided 
during these numerous, lengthy, and exciting trials with 
great dignity, impartiality, and firmness. No higher 
evidence can be furnished of his impartiality than the 
fact that in 1847, when he was a candidate for the of- 
fice of judge of the Supreme Court, although the anti- 
renters in the county of Delaware polled a majority of 
the votes. Judge Parker obtained a large majority in 
that county. The path of duty is not only the road to 
honor, but generally leads to a rich reward. 

The attorney-general, John Van Buren, attended 
these trials in behalf of the people, on the requisition of 
the governor, and to his perseverance, address, and pro- 
fessional skill, aided by the labors and industry of the 
district-attorney, Mr. Houston, we are undoubtedly 
greatly indebted for the maintenance of law and order, 
by the repeated verdicts of a jury taken from the body 
of the county of Delaware, many of whom, it is fair to 
presume, when impannelled, ware strongly biased in 
favor of the anti-rent cause. 

We take this occasion to say, that there is something 
remarkable in the brief history (for he is yet young) of 
Mr. John Van Buren. Although the son of a president 
of the United States, he early manifested a determina- 
tion not to content himself with the standing in society 
which that circumstance gave him, but to create a cap- 
ital which should be entirely his own, independent of 
the reputation of his fathei'. While that father was 
president, and had at his command the vast patronage 



! 



1846.] JOHN VAN BUREN. 583 

which the constitution devolves on the national exec- 
utive, John Van Buren, instead of asking, or being wil- 
ling to receive any of that patronage, or wasting his 
time in fashionable circles at the capitol, in the enjoy- 
nnent of court pleasures and court blandishments, com- 
menced the practice of law at Albany, in partnership 
with Col. M'Kown of that city, and actively and assid- 
uously devoted himself to the common business and 
labors of a law office. His industry and legal learning, 
independent of all the factitious circumstances with 
which he was surrounded, soon elevated him to a dis- 
tinguished rank in his profession. It is no disparage- 
ment to the late president to say that John Van Buren 
possesses talents equal, if not superior, to his father. If 
age and experience in social and public life shall enable 
him to acquire the prudence and discretion of the late 
president, and if his political associations shall not prove 
unfortunate, the prediction is by no means hazardous, 
that a splendid career awaits him. 

In the month of December, the governor was officially 
informed that the insurrection was .suppressed, and on 
the 18th of that month he issued a proclamation revo- 
king the previous one. No serious disturbances after- 
wards occurred. The firmness and vigorous action of 
Gov. Wright, during all these alarming attempts to 
prostrate the laws of the state, merited and received 
high commendations from all well-disposed citizens of the 
commu!iity, and richly entitle him to the gratitude of 
this and all succeeding generations. 

It is quite unnecessary to say that the message of 
Gov. Wright was able and well written. His exordium 
is beautiful. 

" We are assembled," says the governor, " to perform 



584 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 



the highest and most responsible duties pertaining to 
civil government. Other departments are charged with 
the administration and execution of the law. Upon the 
legislature is devolved the duty of making the law. Its 
action is the rule of administration and execution. That 
action is over all and rests upon all. It binds the con- 
duct of men to the extent of the extreme penalty of hu- 
man life, and the interests of men to the extent of every 
thing which can be held as property." 

He then proceeds to give a history of the anti-rent 
disturbances and outrages, and arrives at the conclusion 
that they have substantially subsided ; and he adds — 

" In my former communication to the legislature upon 
this subject, I stated that I considered myself precluded 
from discussing, or even considering, the real merits of 
the differences existing between the landlords and the 
tenants, by the violent and criminal conduct of those 
who assumed to act for the latter, and in their name, 
and apparently by their approbation; and who had 
changed the issue to one between sustaining the law, 
preserving the pubjic peace, and protecting the rights 
and lives of unoffending citizens on the one side, and 
armed resistance against the law, wanton disturbances 
of the peace, and aggravated trespasses on the rights 
and lives of individuals on the other." 

But inasmuch as resistance to the laws was now dis- 
continued, and the peace of community was restored, 
the governor felt authorized to propose and recommend 
the following measures for the alleviation of the condi- 
tion of the tenantry : 

" 1. That distress for rent accruing on all leases exe- 
cuted in future, shall be abolished. 

"2. Taxing the landlord for his income by means of rent. 



1846.] governor's message. 585 

"3. That the duration of the time of all leases to be 
executed should be restricted to five or ten years." 

From the returns of the last census, (taken in 1845,) 
the governor states that " the entire population of the 
state is shown to be 2,604,495, being an increase, since 
the census of 1840, taken in obedience to the constitu- 
tion and laws of the United States, of 188,574, a little 
more than seven and a half per cent, for the five 
years." 

On the subject of the finances of the state, the gov- 
ernor presents a very clear view, — that is, so far as a 
very complicated system can be rendered clear. For 
ourselves, we confess the great number of separate 
funds, such as the canal fund, the general fund, the liter- 
ature fund, the bank fund, &lc., with which our financial 
ofliicers keep an account, and the condition of which they 
exhibit to the people in their reports, seem rather to 
throw into obscurity and cast a veil of mystery over our 
financial operations, than to enlighten us in relation to 
the monetary afiairs of the state. The loan of money 
from the school fund to the general fund, and the in- 
debtedness of the canal fund to the bank fund, convey 
to a stranger very imperfect ideas of the debts and cred- 
its of the state. These things may be necessary and 
convenient for the accounting officers, but to those un- 
schooled in the mysteries of keeping accounts in the 
mode practised by the financial officers, they seem as 
useless as if an individual were to keep an account of 
the moneys transferred from one pocket to another. We 
cannot perceive how the supposed individual would be 
aided in arriving at a safe and certain conclusion in re- 
spect to his real pecuniary condition, by charging lils 
jacket-pocket with the money transferred to it from hi55 



586 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

breeches-pocket, or his wallet with money taken from 
his side-pocket and deposited there for greater safety. 

The governor states the canal debt at that time un- 
paid and unprovided for, at $10,641,815 57; and the 
canal tolls received during the preceding fiscal year at 
$2,646,458 78. At that time there were 1,145,250 vol- 
umes in the conmion school libraries in tlie state, and 
11,018 school districts. 

In allusion to the national politics, the governor re- 
marks, that " as a declaration of the policy of the present 
administration of the federal government, the message 
of the president appears to me to justify the confidence 
entertained by the country in the publicly avowed prin- 
ciples of the man, and to realize the expectations natu- 
rall}'- excited by his elevation to the high trust he holds. 
The re-establishment of the independent treasury was 
confidently anticipated as a result of his election, and 
that great measure could not have been more distinctly 
or strongly recommended to congress, than it is in this 
message. The principles put forth as those which should 
govern an adjustment of the laws for the collection of 
our revenue from the customs, are also those the coun- 
try had a right to expect from his public declarations 
upon that subject. They appear to me to be substan- 
tially the principles upon which alone a tariff' of duties 
upon imports can be adjusted, which will have a prom- 
ise of permanency, or which will give reasonable satis- 
faction to the different sections of our widely-extended 
country, and to all the various interests to be affected." 

He concludes his message and his remarks on the 
c<jndition of the nation, with expressing the following 
just and patriotic sentiment : 

" Whether these favorable anticipations as to the con- 



1846.] MR. JONE^'ri RE.^MLUTIONg. 587 

tinued peace of our country are to be realized or not, 
can vary little the calls of public duty upon us. To ex- 
empt our people, as far as may be in our power, from 
the incumbrance of debt and the burden of taxation, and 
to secure to them the fullest measure of prosperity which 
unfettered industry can earn, is alike the course of wis- 
dom in either event. In such a condition, they will be 
best prepared for the profitable enj(^yment of peace, or to 
meet the scourge of war ; and if our deliberations and 
action shall be unitedly and earnestly directed to these 
ends, we may reasonably hope for the continued smiles 
of that Ahniifhtv Power who holds the destinies of na- 
tions in His hand, and who has hitherto protected our 
country and her institutions against every hostile as- 
sault." 

So far as relates to general legislation, little business 
was transacted during this session. Very few important 
bills were passed into laws. 

Two important political questions were discussed at 
great length, and occupied a large portion of the time 
of the legislature. These were joint resolutions offered 
by Mr. Jones in the senate, approving of the annexation 
of Texas, claiming the whole of Oregon, in favor of an 
independent treasury, and against a protective tariff, 
and the bill on the subject of the state printing. The lat- 
ter, however, may be regarded rather as a party ques- 
tion, mor^ directly between the hunkers and radicals, 
than, strictly speaking, a political measure. 

On the first day of the session, immediately after the 
senate was organized for business, and before the gov- 
ernor's message was delivered, Mr. Jones laid on the 
table the following resolutions : 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That this legis- 



588 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

lature approve of the course of those of their senators 
and representatives in the congress of the United States, 
who have been the firm and consistent supporters of the 
great measure of the age, the annexation of Texas to the 
territory of this Union, and who, by their timely and en- 
ergetic action, have helped to bring it to an honorable 
consummation. 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That this legis- 
lature entertain, and now desire to express, their unqual- 
ified approval of the course and policy of the president 
of the United States upon the subject of the American 
claim to Oregon ; that our title to the whole of that ter- 
ritory is unquestionable; and that we rely with confidence 
upon the wisdom and firmness of our popular and patri- 
otic chief magistrate, acting upon and practically carry- 
ing out the commendable maxim of his lamented prede- 
cessor, to 'demand, as well as submit to, nothing but 
what is right, so to dispose of this important question, as 
that the interests and honor of the nation shall be pro- 
moted and preserved. 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That our sena- 
tors in congress be instructed, and our representatives 
requested to exert their influence to procure, at the ear- 
liest possible period, the passage of a law establishing 
'an Independent Treasury,' for the safe-keeping of the 
public moneys. 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we are 
opposed to a national bank, and that our senators in 
congress be instructed, and our representatives request- 
ed to oppose the incorporation of such an institution, 
by whatever name or in whatever form it may be pre- 
sented. 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we are op- 



1846.] MR. roKTKKs RESOLUTIONS. 589 

posed to any tarifTlavvs whose object shall he protection 
instead of revenue ; that we are in favor either of a re- 
peal of the present law, or such a modification of it, as 
that in case of discrimination and incidental protection, 
all the great interests of the country, to wit, agriculture, 
the mechanic arts, commerce, and manufactures, may 
be put upon an equal footing, and that our senators in 
congress be instructed, and our representatives be re- 
quested to carry into effect these resolutions. 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the present 
chief magistrate of the United States, in the ability and 
wisdom with which he has, conducted the administration 
of the government, has fully met the most sanguine ex- 
pectations of the American people, and this legislature 
cannot avoid expressing the high gratification which it 
feels, in having at this time at the head of the govern- 
ment an individual who has the clearness to perceive, 
the boldness to protect, and the patriotism to preserve 
and maintain, the honor and fame of our beloved coun- 
try. 

Whereupon Mr. Porter proposed the following as a 
substitute : 

" Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the sena- 
tors in congress from this state be instructed, and the 
representatives from this state be requested, to aid, by 
their influence and their votes, in procuring the passage 
of a law for establishing a constitutional treasury for the 
safe-keeping of the public moneys ; and for thus separa- 
ting the financial affairs of the government from those 
of bankiniT institutions, according to the views of the 
president, as expressed in his message. 

"Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the said 
senators be instructed, and the said representatives be 

50 



590 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

requested, to use their best efforts to secure the estab- 
Hshment of a tariff, in conformity with tiie principles 
upon that subject set forth in the president's message. 

"And whereas, the title of the United States to the 
whole of Oregon is clear and unquestionable ; yet still, 
with a view to an amicable arrangement of the conflict- 
ing claims of the United States and Great Britain to 
that territory, our government have repeatedly offered a 
very liberal proposition, but which has been rejected : 

" Therefore, Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That 
although war is a great calamity, yet that a sacrifice of 
national honor is a greater ; and if Great Britain shall 
still adhere to her unfounded pretensions, and shall make 
on her part no proposition on the subject of an amicable 
arrangement, which our government shall deem accept- 
able, and war shall be the consequence, that the state 
of New York will stand side by side with her sister 
states, in defence of her rights to the Oregon territo- 
ry. And further, that notice of the termination of the 
joint occupancy should be promptly given ; and that 
such measures as may be consistent with treaty obliga- 
tions, and as are necessary for the protection of the 
rights and interests of the United States, and of their 
citizens who now are, or may become residents of that 
territory, or may be emigrating thither, should forthwith 
be provided by congress ; and that the said senators be 
instructed, and the said representatives be requested, to 
use their exertions to secure the passage of laws on 
these subjects, as recommended in the message of the 
president." 

It will be perceived that Mr. Porter's resolutions were 
silent on the subject of Texas, and that they do not in- 
sist on the whole of Oregon. 



1840.] DEBATE ON THE RESOLUTIONS. 591 

The cause of this extraordinary ha.ste in getting these 
resolutions before the senate and the public, will natu- 
rally excite the curiosity of the reader. 

It was well known that Mr. Wright and Mr. Van 
Buren were opposed to annexation, when that meas- 
ure was recommended by Mr. Tyler ; and it was also 
well known that Colonel Young and Mr. Porter, and 
several other radical senators, accorded with Mr. Wright 
and Mr. Van Buren in opinion. The hunkers had al- 
ready intrenched themselves pretty strongly at Wash- 
ington. Gov. Marcy was at the head of one of the 
executive departments. Judge Nelson was on the bench 
of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Mr. 
Dickinson, a zealous, active, and indefatigable politician, 
was in the United States senate. Gen. Dix, however, 
was at Washington, and his influence, from his address 
and weight of character, it was believed, would be con- 
siderably felt. The hunkers were also well aware of the 
high standing of Gov. Wright in the nation, and the pro- 
found respect for his opinions entertained by several of the 
men in power at the national capitol. The leading hun- 
kers must also have recollected the pledges which were 
made at the Baltimore Convention, by some of the most 
powerful friends of Mr. Polk. They therefore, in order 
to intrench themselves still stronger at Washington, 
wished to make up an issue with the radicals on the 
question of the annexation of Texas, — a question which 
they well knew Mr. Polk, and the whole South, viewed 
with extreme sensibility. 

The resolutions of Mr. Jones and Mr. Porter were 
referred to the committee of the whole, and when they 
came up for discussion. Col. Young made a very able 
speech in opposition to the first resolution ofliered by 



592 POLITICAL rilSTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84G. 

Mr. Jones. On the 28th of January, the discussion was 
renewed, and Mr. Jones made a speech in support of his 
resolutions, in which he divided the opposers of the ad- 
mission of Texas into five classes. " First," said he, 
" the English nation ; second, the French nation ; third, 
the abolitionists ; fourth, the greater portion of the whig 
party ; fifth, a small portion of the democratic party. 
With regard to the four first divisions; I do not design 
to comment at all, or to make any remarks, except in 
the way of reference. It is in regard to the last divi- 
sion, a portion of the democracy, that I design to com- 
ment. And firstly, I propose to divide this last division 
still farther, and more minutely. The portion of the 
democratic party who have thrown obstacles in the way 
of the (Consummation of this great measure, may be con- 
sidered as divided into three subdivisions. The first 
consists of those who have separated from the party on 
this question, and organized a party distinct from the 
democratic party. The second division is of those who 
were originally opposed to the annexation of Texas, but 
have now mainly abandoned that opposition. The third 
class are those who were originally opposed to the an- 
nexation, still continue opposed, and exhibit a settled 
dislike to hear any discussion or agitation of the ques- 
tion. Among those who I suppose properly belong to 
this last class, I beg leave to mention the gentleman who 
now represents this, the Albany district, in the house of 
representatives of the United States, the Hon. Bradford 
R. Wood ; the gentleman who represents the Onondaga 
district, the Hon. Mr. Wheaton ; and the gentleman 
who represents the St. Lawrence district, the Hon. 
Preston King." 

A long and very desultory debate ensued, which con- 



1846.] PERSONAL ALTEUCATION3. 593 

tiimed from time to time for weeks and months. A very 
wide range was taken. Those who took part in the de- 
bate, and most of the senators did, reviewed the conduct 
of j;oliticaI men and parties for many preceding years. 
A bitter personal altercation occurred between Mr. 
John C. Wright and Gen. Clark on one side, and Col. 
Young on the other. In these altercations, the merits 
of the. question before the senate seemed to be wholly 
overlooked, and personal crimination and recrimination 
was pursued to an extent unprecedented in that body. 
Who commenced these personal attacks, we are unable 
to state, but in the progress of the debate Col. Young's 
assailants reviewed his whole political life, and animad- 
verted upon some parts of it with great severity. If 
these gentlemen (Messrs. Wright and Clark) evinced 
much talent, and they certainly did, especially Mr. 
Wright, in this war with their formidable opponent, they 
also exhibited much, indeed we may say extreme bitter- 
ness. All the acerbity of Col. Young's temper was called 
into action, and he was by no means behind his oppo- 
nents in severe and bitter denunciations. It was no 
trifling undertaking for a man who had acted a distin- 
guished part, and been a warm partisan in New York 
for nearly half a century, to give an account of every 
public act of his whole life ; but so far as related to his 
own course, as a public man, for nearly forty years, 
he defended himself with great energy, and of course 
with eminent ability. He also traced the history of 
what he denominated the conservative party through 
many previous years. He charged them with advoca- 
ting profuse and unnecessary expenditures of public 
money for the benefit of individuals, of being the friends 
3f monopoly, and the cause of much corrupt legislation 

50* 



594 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

in relation to moneyed institutions. He claimed that 
his opponents were the legitimate representatives of that 
party, and denounced them with peculiar and indignant 
severity, which can better be conceived by those who 
are acquainted with him than described. 

Mr. Spencer made almost the only speech on the mer- 
its of the question involved in the resolution. He ar- 
gued that the annexation of Texas, by joint resolution, 
was a flagrant violation of the constitution, and that its 
real object was the extension and perpetuation of slave- 
ry, and the internal slave-trade. " The resolution," he 
said, " spoke of annexation as the great measure of the 
age. It was indeed the great measure of the age ; for 
with a longer stride and a more iron tread than any 
measure of this or any other age, it had broke through 
every constitutional barrier, and under circumstances still 
more extraordinary had triumphed. He regarded it as 
scarcely less extraordinary and unwarranted than would 
be a proposition to annex England, France, Scotland, 
Germany, or Russia, to the United States. But he 
should view it solely with reference to the fact that with 
Texas had come slavery, and a surrender of the power 
of the North to the South. Why the North should have 
been so much in love with the South as to consent to 
this surrender, he was unable to say. Was it because 
Georgia, in defiance of the laws of congress, had im- 
prisoned the missionaries invited thither by the United 
States, and promised security and protection ? Was it 
because Georgia had set at naught the decision of the 
United States courts, and refused to set the prisoners 
free ? Was it because the executive of the Union omit-- 
ted to enforce the mandate of the Supreme Court against 
Georgia? Was it because South Carolina had expelled 



1846.] ALBANY ATLAS. 595 

from her borders the agent sent by Massachusetts to test 
the right of that state to imprison colored seamen from 
the Nortli ? Was it because citizens of Ohio had been 
seized by the authorities of Virginia, on the soil of Ohio, 
on the charge of aiding in the escape of slaves? But 
the deed was done, Texas was annexed, and its ' lone 
star,' obscured by the black cloud of slavery, twinkled in 
the constellation of American states. The power of the 
North had been basely surrendered. The South now 
controlled the legislation of this Union, and we of the 
North must succumb to their will." 

The senate continued from time to time to discuss in 
committee these resolutions from the 6th of January to 
the 30th of March, when, by a vote of twelve to nine, 
that body refused to make them the special order for any 
subsequent day, and they finally died in the hands of 
the con)mittee of the whole. There can be no doubt 
but that, including the whigs, there was a majority in 
the senate opposed to the resolution which purported 
to approve of the annexation of Texas. 

The Albany Atlas, as we believe we have somewhere 
before stated, was established as a commercial and city 
paper by Messrs. Vance and Wendell, in the latter part 
of the year 1840. In September, 1842, Mr. French re- 
ceived ail assignment of Mr. Wendell's interest, and in 
1848 Mr. Vance died. Mr. William Cassidy, who had 
occasionally, before the death of Mr. Vance, written ed- 
itorial articles for the paper, after his death became a 
joint proprietor of the Atlas, and one of its editors. Mr. 
French employed Mr. O'Riley, who had conducted a 
democratic newspaper at Rochester, to act as co-editor 
with Mr. Cassidy. In this way the editorial department 
was conducted, with, as is generally believed, the occa- 



596 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

sional aid of Mr. Van Dyck, until August, 1846, when 
Mr. Frencii transfen-ed his interest in the estabUshment 
to Mr. Van Dyck, who has since been a co-editor of the 
paper. From the time it passed into the hands of Messrs. 
French and Cassidy, it was conducted with great spirit 
and energy, and from the year 1843 down to the session 
of 1846, and indeed to the present time, has been the 
recognised organ of the radical party. 

When, in 1843, the war between the Atlas and the 
Argus was pubhcly declared, Mr. Weed, of the Journal, 
after noticing it, good-humoredly remarked, that he did 
not intend to take any part in the controversy, but he 
could assure his neighbors of the Atlas they had engaged 
in no sham fight ; that they must expect to receive as 
well as give blows ; that he had been warring with the 
editor of the Argus for more than sixteen years, and had 
found him a very uncomfortable opponent.* 

By the act " To provide tor the public printing," 
passed in 1843, the state printer was to be chosen in 
joint ballot by the two houses, in the same manner as the 
other state officers were appointed, and hold his office 
for the same term. Under this act, Mr. Croswell was 
appointed in the early part of the year 1843, as has been 
before stated. His term of office, therefore, expired in 
January of this year. 

We have before remarked that the radicals comprised 
a large majority of the democratic members in this legis- 
lature. The feeling which induced that party in 1843 
to oppose the appointment of Mr. Croswell to the office 
of state printer, had, from a variety of circumstances, be- 
come more intense and inflamed. 

* We quote from memory, not having the paper before us, and are sure 
we do not do justice to the keenness and wit of Mr. W. 



1846.] STATE PRINTER. 597 

At a caucus held soon after the organization of the 
legislature by a majority of the democratic members, 
Wiiliani Cassidy was nominated state printer. What 
was to be done ? Mr. Croswell undoubtedly felt that 
much of his political standing in the state and nation de- 
pended on defeating the appointment of Mr. Cassidy ; 
and how could that object be accomplished ? Mr. Cros- 
well was a caucus man " of the most straitest sect." If 
there was any thing sacred with him in party obligations, 
to support caucus nominations was among those which 
were deemed the most so. In this dilemma, never did he 
afford higher evidence of skill and address than he ex- 
hibited on this occasion, unless, perhaps, his successful 
project of supporting " new men," at the last nomination 
of state officers, may be considered as rivalling the inge- 
nuity displayed by him in the controversy about the ap- 
pointment of state printer. He did not seriously attempt 
to prevent the nomination of Mr. Cassidy, but he and his 
friends in the legislature concocted a scheme in effect 
abolishing the office for which his opponent had been 
designated in caucus. 

The whigs were strengthened in the assembly and sen- 
ate, and now, as in 1845, held the balance of power, 
headed by that able manager, John Young, between the 
hunkers and the radicals. It was therefore necessary to 
devise some scheme which would command their sup- 
port. We scarce need say that they did not desire to 
see either Croswell or Cassidy state printer, and there- 
fore were for abolishing the office. 

On the 15th of January, Mr. Porter brought into the 
senate a bill respecting the public printing. It consisted 
of two sections only, the first of which repealed the third 
section of the act of 1843, which provided that each house 



598 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOIiK. [1846. 

should elect its own printer, to print and publish its jour- 
nals and legislative documents ; and the second section 
directed that that part of the public printing should be 
done by such persons as would agree to do it at the low- 
est price. By this bill the residue of the act of 1843 was 
left in full force. 

On the same day, and immediately after Mr. Porter's 
bill was announced and read, Mr. J. C. Wright offered 
an amendment to it, or rather a substitute for it. Mr. 
Wright's bill provided that the legislative printing should 
be done by contract, substantially in the manner pro- 
posed by Mr. Porter, but that " the office" of state printer 
should be abolished, and that all notices then required by 
law to be published in the state paper, should be publish- 
ed in a newspaper printed in the city of Albany. The 
substitute left the name of the paper, in which those 
notices were to be published, blank. A heated and an- 
gry debate, or rather altercation, immediately followed, 
conducted chiefly by Messrs. Porter and Young on one 
side, and Messrs. Wright, Clark, and Jones on the other. 
The committee of the whole, however, which had the 
subject under consideration, rose without at that time 
arriving at any decision. 

On the 20th of January, Mr. Sands offered a concur- 
rent resolution in the assembly, that the two houses on 
the next day proceed to elect a state printer. This res- 
olution was laid on the table by the votes of all the 
whigs and a few of the democrats, among whom were 
Messrs. Dean, Sherwood, Stevenson, Watson, and Wells. 
There were 63 votes in the affirmative and 57 in the 
negative. 

The bill in the senate was, after considerable angry 
discussion in committee of the whole, amended so that 



1846.] STATE PRINTING BILL. 599 

the state officers should at the time and in the same 
manner as in that act was provided, issue proposals and 
receive sealed bids for the printing and publishing, once 
ill each week, in a newspaper printed in Albany, of all 
notices then required by law to be published in the state 
paper, at so much for each and every folio contained in 
any notice ; and that the state officers should award the 
printing of these notices to the lowest bidder. The bill 
repealed the act of 1843, and abolished the office of state 
printer. 

The bill in this form was warmly and ably advocated 
by Mr. Croswell in the Argus as a great measure of re- 
form. Indeed, upon general principles it was difficult to 
produce even a plausible objection against it, as it con- 
tained provisions that the most ample security should be 
given by the contractors for the faithful performance of 
their duty. It is true there were many party considera- 
tions which might have been urged against its adoption, 
but these considerations all know are better felt and sug- 
gested in secret conclave, than publicly avowed in the 
deliberations and discussions of grave legislative bodies. 

When the committee of the whole rose and reported 
the bill, various attempts were made to amend it, but 
were effectually rq^isted by the combined vote of the 
whigs and hunkers. On its final passage there were 20 
votes in favor of it, and 11 against it, — all the radicals 
voting in the negative, except Mr. Lester, who voted in 
the affirmative. 

During the time this matter was being discussed in 
the senate, Mr. Sands made several ineffectual attempts 
t'> induce the assembly to consider the resolution he had 
offered for the election of state printer. This delay was 
undoubtedly caused by a desire of the majority that the 



600 POUTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

senate should act definitively on Mr. Wright's bill before 
the resolution should be sent to that house. A tew min- 
utes after the final passage of the bill in the senate, the 
resolution of Mr. Sands was taken from the table, adopt- 
ed by a large majority, and sent to the senate probably 
before the senate's bill was delivered to the assembly. 
Mr. Clark, when the resolution of the assembly was an- 
nounced, moved that its consideration be postponed until 
the first Tuesday of June. The adoption of Mr. Clark's 
motion was fiercely opposed, but it finally passed by a 
vote of 17 to 11. 

When the printing bill came into the assembly it en- 
countered a furious opposition. The discussions on the 
subject were long continued and extremely bitter. Many 
speeches were delivered, and much, quite too much, ac- 
rimony was evinced. During all this war of words the 
whigs preserved a most respectful silence ; but when any 
question was taken, every man of them voted against 
all proposed alterations of the bill as it came from the sen- 
ate, and on the final passage, all voted in the affirmative. 
On that occasion there were 66 ayes and 53 noes. The 
bill became a law by the approval of Gov. Wright. 

Mr. Croswell, one would suppose, under the influence 
of an inflexible and stern resolution, jhat no man should 
profit by opposing him, in connection with his worthy 
and excellent partner and relative, Mr. Sherman Cros- 
well, delivered proposals to the comptroller to print the 
notices, of which we have spoken, free of charge, and to 
this day they are printing and publishing in the Albany 
Argus those notices, (and there are many of them,) with- 
out being paid a single cent for their materials, labor, or 
trouble. 

A law was passed abolishing distress for rent, and fa- 



184(5.] ELECTION OF SPEAKER PRO TEM. GOl 

cilitating the remedy by re-entry on lands for enforcing 
the payment of rent. This act was intended as a con- 
cihatory measure towards the anti-renters, but indeed is 
right in itself There can be no reason why a debt for 
rent should be held more sacred than any other debt, or 
why a creditor for rent should have a more speedy and 
better remedy for the collection of his debt than the man 
who loans money to his neighbor ; but whether, where in 
leases executed before the passing of the act, it is ex- 
pressly covenanted that the landlord may enter and dis- 
train for rent in arrear, this law is not void by the con- 
stitution of the United States, may well be questioned. 

On the 7th of March the speaker. Col. Grain, having 
occasion to be absent a few days, the appointment of a 
speaker pro tern, became necessary ; and Mr. Bailey, the 
chairman of the committee of ways and means, was 
nominated in the house by Mr. Coe, a prominent whig 
member, to fill that station. None of Mr. Bailey's friends 
anticipated opposition to the motion, but Mr. Stevenson, 
n hunker member from the city of New York, rose and 
moved that the choice of a speaker pro tern, should be 
made by ballot, and his motion was adopted. The house 
then immediately proceeded to a ballot ; and the result 
was, — Mr. A. G. Chatfield received 50 votes, Mr. Bailey 
45, and Mr. Worden 3. This incident is so trifling that 
it would not deserve to be mentioned, did it not show the 
extreme bitterness which prevailed between the hunkers 
and radicals. Having mentioned it, however, we feel 
bound to add that the position occupied by Mr. Steven- 
son in relation to this transaction cannot be regarded as 
at all enviable. If he really believed he had good reasons 
to oppose the appointment of Mr. Bailey, he should have 
stated them openly, and suffered the question to be taken 

51 



602 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846 

on the resolution in an open, manly manner, by ayes and 
noes. The resort to a secret ballot was a kind of assas- 
sin-like policy instead of honorable warfare. 

In the senate, on the 7th of April, an attempt was made 
to elect a president pro tem. Mr. Lott, who was in his 
last year of service, was proposed by his friends. The 
choice was to be made by open nomination. The result 
was 14 for Mr. Lott and 12 for Col. Young, and 2 scat- 
tering votes. Of course no person was appointed. In 
this case all the radicals voted against Mr. Lott. There 
could be no personal objections against Mr. Lott, who 
was distinguished for his courtesy towards his political 
opponents, and was, as we have reason to believe, high- 
ly esteemed by all his fellow-members. In this case, 
however, the opposition was not concealed, but open. 
Some time afterwards Col. Young was chosen president 
pro tem., and upon taking the chair, assured the senate 
that he had no agency in becoming the opposing candi- 
date to Mr. Lott. 

Thomas Farrington, the former treasurer, was during 
this session again chosen to that office. When elected, 
he was adjutant-general of the state ; upon his being 
elected treasurer, he resigned the office of adjutant- 
general, and the governor appointed Robert E. Temple 
to fill the office thus vacated. 

This was an excellent appointment. Col. Temple was 
a well-educated, enterprising, chivalrous young man, who 
had received a military education, and was universally 
popular. At this moment he commands a regiment, and 
is in the service of his country in some of the Mexican 
territories. 

The term of Judge Parmelee as recorder of Albany, 
who was appointed by Gov. Seward, and was deserved- 



1846.] AHPOINTMENTd BY TIIK GOVERNOR. 603 

ly one of his favorites, had expired, and thereupon the 
governor and senate appointed Col. James M'Kown his 
successor. Of Col. M'Kown we have spoken in a pre- 
ceding volume.* The Argus speaks in. the following 
well-merited complimentary terms of the appointment 
of Mr. M'Kown, and also of his predecessor : 

" Yesterday, the senate confirmed the nomination of 
Col. M'Kown to the ofBce of recorder of this city. Col. 
M'Kown is thus restored to an office, the duties of which, 
for many years, he discharged with the clearest ability, 
and with conceded impartiality and integrity. The se- 
lection may be said to meet with universal approval. It 
is simple justice to say of the retiring magistrate, Mr. 
Recorder Parmelee, that he goes out with a high repu- 
tation for talents and official fidelity." 

The office of circuit judge of the sixth circuit had be- 
come vacant by the resignation of Judge Monell, who 
was appointed to succeed Judge Sutherland as clerk of 
the Supreme Court at Geneva. The governor appointed 
Hiram Gray, of Elmira, the successor of Judge Monell. 
Although from his excellent social qualities, integrity, 
and impartiality, the people of the district regretted the 
retirement of Judge M.mell, the appointment of Judge 
Gray was deservedly popular. He had been a member 
of congress from the district in which he resided, and 
sustained himself creditably in that** station, and was a 
man of remarkable urbanity in his social intercourse, and 
a sound and able lawyer. 

The governor and senate during this session made 
another excellent judicial appointment, which was that of 
Lewis H. Sanford as vice-chancellor in the city of New 



« 1 Political History, p. 523. 



601 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

York. He is a very learned man and an able judge. His 
appointment was hailed as a most fortunate and judi- 
cious one, not only by the bar of New York, but by the 
legal profession throughout the state. 

Although Mr. Wright was complained of by the hun- 
kers for leaning too much towards the radicals in the 
distribution of the state patronage, the highly important 
appointments just mentioned were certainly very judi- 
cious and beneficial to the community. 

In concluding this chapter, it is with painful sensations 
we record the death of an old and valuable state officer. 
We allude to Jonas Earl, of Onondaga county, who for 
many years was a canal commissioner, and who had, we 
believe, been twice elected senator of this state. He 
died at Syracuse in October. A meeting of the bar of 
Syracuse was held on the occasion : Judge Pratt presi- 
ded, and among other resolutions introduced by Mr. H. 
Baldwin, and adopted by the meeting, was the following : 

" Resolved, That in the retrospect of the well-spent 
life of our friend, while we mourn his loss, we find much 
to assuage our sorrow and console our grief in his un- 
blemished and spotless life — in the purity of his character 
as a citizen and as a man — in the scrupulous fidelity with 
which he discharged all the high and multiplied public 
trusts which, for a period of more than thirty consecutive 
years, were by his confiding fellow-citizens committed to 
his hands — in his safe and prudent counsel as a member 
of the legal profession, which he adorned — and in his 
devout and consistent bearing as a professed and humble 
follower of our blessed Lord and Saviour." 

We are sure all who knew Mr. Earl will admit that 
this eulogy was well merited. 



1846.] MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION. 605 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CONVENTION. 

Place of birth of the Delegate* — John Tracy elected President — A Com- 
mittee of seventeen appointed to report on subjects to be considered by 
the Convention — Their Report — Debate on restricting the eligibility of 
citizens for the office of Governor — On the Executive Veto — On the 
Legislative Department — Report of the Judiciary Committee — Of the 
persons who composed that committee — Proceedings on Mr. Chattield's 
Report (No. 6) on the State Otlicers — On Gen. Tallmadge's Report, 
from No. 11, on Rights and Priviiegej" — Proceedings in Committee of 
the Whole on the Report from the Judiciary Committee — Mr. Hoff- 
man's Report on Canals, the Public Revenue, &c., from No. .3 — Pro- 
ceedings in Commillee of the Whole on Mr. Hoffman's Report — Mr. 
Cambreling's Speech on Currency and Banking — Debate on the ques- 
tion of extending to colored freemen an equal Right of Suffrage — Mr. 
Clyde's Resolutions in relation to the Tenure of Real Estate — Final ad- 
journment of the Convention — Concluding Remarks. 

The election of delegates to the constitutional conven- 
tion in 1846, in most, it' not all the counties in the state, 
was made a party question, and the democratic j)arty 
succeeded in electing a majority of them. Messrs. Har- 
ris, Shaver, Stanton, and Willard, from Albany county, 
Jordan (though then residing in New York) and Clyde, 
from Columbia county, Waterbury and Burr, from Dela- 
ware county, and Van Schoonhoven, Warren, and Wit- 
beck, from Rensselaer county, were nominated and sup- 
ported by the anti-renters, and were claimed by that 
party as their representatives. Judge Nelson, from Ot- 
sego county, and William Maxwell, from Chemung, 
were democrats, but were elected in opposition to the 
regularly-nominated democratic candidates in the coun- 

45* 



GOG POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

ties they respectively represented. It ought, however, 
to be stated, that both the democratic and whig parties 
seemed to have been impressed with the importance of 
selecting their ablest and best men to represent them in 
this assembly. We shall not undertake to designate the 
many distinguished individuals of which this body was 
composed. To allude by name to individual members, 
eminent for their talents and for their standing in society, 
might be deemed invidious. It niust therefore suffice to 
say, that if we pass in review the whole body, they con- 
stituted an assemblage of men of great experience and 
weight of character, and highly distinguished for their 
talents, patriotism, and private and public virtues. 

There was one, and but one, of the members of this 
convention who was a member of the convention of 1821. 
That member was Gen. James Tallmadge, from the 
county of Dutchess. It will be recollected that each 
county was entitled to the same ratio of representation 
in the convention as under the then existing constitution 
it had in the assembly. Of course the whole number of 
delegates was 128. Of this number 43 were farmers, 
45 lawyers, 8 physicians, 12 merchants, 6 mechanics, 2 
surveyors, 1 banker, 1 furnace-man, 1 dealer in paints, 1 
blacksmith, 1 printer, 1 engineer, 1 miller, 1 manufactu- 
rer, 1 iron-master, 1 geologist, 1 teacher, and 1 author. 
Three of the delegates were natives of Ireland, one of 
Scotland, 12 of the state of Massachusetts, 13 of Connec- 
ticut, G of i^ew Hampshire, 6 of Vermont, 3 .of Rhode 
Island, 1 of Maine, 2 of Pennsylvania, 3 of New Jersey, 
1 of North Carolina, 1 of Virginia, 1 of Maryland, and 
the residue, being 75, were born in the state of New York. 

The convention assembled on the 1st day of June, and 
were called to order by Mr. Benton, the secretary of 



1S46.] ORGANIZATION OF THE CONVENTION. 607 

State. On the roll being called, it appeared that all the 
members elected were present except three : these 
were Judge Nelson of Otsego, Mr. Porter of Saratoga, 
and Mr. Young of Wyoming, all of whom in a day or 
two after appeared and took their seats as delegates. 

The democratic members had, previous to their meet- 
ing, held a caucus, at which Mr. John Tracy, of Che- 
nango, formerly lieutenant-governor, had, uith great 
unanimity, been nominated as their candidate for presi- 
dent, and upon balloting, after the house organized, it 
appeared that 69 votes were cast for him for that office, 
and he was thereupon declared duly elected. The whigs 
voted, some for one and some for another candidate : the 
highest vote given by them to any individual was 11, 
which were cast for Mr. Worden, of Ontario. The 
truth was, the whigs came to an understanding that they 
would not act as a party in this convention. They 
therefore wisely avoided any appearance of a party or- 
ganization in choosing a president. This determination 
was, as afterwards appeared, not only judicious, as a 
measure of party policy, but the effect on the future ac- 
tion of the convention was auspicious. Had the whigs 
exhibited at the commencement of the session a party 
organization, by making a useless fight about the selec- 
tion of a presiding officer, it probably would have 
aroused party prejudices and jealousies, which would 
have been developed in the course of the subsequent 
deliberations of the convention, and which could not 
have failed to produce results injurious to the great 
and permanent interests of community. Francis Star- 
buck, of Jefferson county, and Henry W. Strong, of 
Rensselaer county, late senator, were appointed secre- 
taries. A few days afterwards, June 12, it was ascer- 



608 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

tairied that the services of an assistant-secretary were 
required, and Fi-ancis Seger of Lewis county, who had 
served several years as clerk of the assembly, and had 
been a member of the state senate, was put in nomina- 
tion. The election of Mr. Seger was not effected until 
aft-er three ballotings. The whigs were desirous of elect- 
ing Mr. P. B. Prindle, the present worthy clerk of the 
assembly, and at the two first ballotings, he received 
more votes than Mr. Seger. At the third and last bal- 
loting Mr. S. obtained 55 and Mr. Prindle 53 votes. 
Still there was no choice, because no person had a ma- 
jority of all the votes, whereupon Mr. Worden, a friend 
of Mr. Prindle, and a leading whig member, moved the 
appointment of Mr. Seger, and the convention unani- 
mously concurred in the motion. 

After the organization of the convention, by the ap- 
pointment of its officers, one of its first movements was 
to adopt a resolution, on the motion of Mr. Jones, of New 
York, to " appoint a committee of seventeen (two from 
each senatorial district and one from the state at large) 
to consider and report to the convention the best prac- 
tical mode of proceeding to a revision of the constitu- 
tion of the state." 

Such committee was appointed, who soon after re- 
ported fifteen resolutions, each embracing different and 
important subjects to be considered in the revision, and 
to be referred to separate committees. These resolu- 
tions were referred to the committee of the whole, and 
after being considered, the convention finally adopted 
eighteen resolutions, and the president thereupon ap- 
pointed the following gentlemen on the committees, to 
consider and report on the subjects respectively re- 
ferred : 



1846.] 



APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES. GOO 



1. On the apportionment, elertiov, tenure of office, and compensation 
of the le<ri»lntiire. — Messrs. W. Taylor, R. Campbell, Salisbury, White, 
Burr, Santord, VV. B. VVncrht. 

2. On the powers and duties of the legislature, except as to matters 
otherwise referred. — Mes-srs. Stetson, Powers, Miller. St. John, Harrison, 
J. J Taylor, McNitt. 

3. Oil canals, internal improvements, public revenues and property, 
publu: debt, and the powers and duties of the legislature in reference 
thereto ; and the restrictions, if any, proper to he imposed upon the ac- 
tion of the legislature in making donations from the public funds, and 
in making loans of the moneys or credit of the state. — .Messrs. Iloffhian, 
Tilden, (il<bhanl, Flnntf-r, \V. H. Spencer, Greene, Richmond. 

4. On the elective franchise — the qualifications to vote and hold office. 
— Messrs. Bouck, Gardiner, Kennedy, Dodd, Dorlou, Wood, E. Hunt- 

ID^tOU. 

5 On the election, tenure of office, compensation, poicers, and duties 
{except the power to appoint or nominate to office) of the governor and 
heuleitant-goci-rnor. — .Messrs. iMorris, I'orlcr, Hyde, Kingsley, Pennimau, 
Clark, Waterbury. 

6. On the election or appointtnent of all offrcrs, other than legislative 
and judicial, and the governor and lieutenant-governor, whose duties 
and powers are not local, and their powers, duties, and compensation. 
— Messrs. Chatfield, Perkins, Kemble, Strong, Nicholas, Danfortb, 
Shaver. 

7. On the appointment or election of all officers whose powers and du- 
ties are local, and their tenure of office, powers, duties, and compensa- 
tion. — Messrs. .\ngel, Jones, Archer, Dubois, Maxwell, Hawley, Shaw. 

8. On the militia and military officers. — Messrs. Ward, Chamberlain, 
McNiel, Bruce, Stanton, Kernan, A. VVrijrht. 

9. On official oaths and affirmations ; and the competency of witnesses, 
and o'lths and affirmitions in legal and equity proceedings. — Messrs. 
Rhoades, Baker, Forsyth, Cornell, Brundage, Brayton, Hotchkiss. 

10. On the judiciary, and the appointment or election of judicial offi- 
cers, and their tenure of office and compensation. — Messrs. Rngglee, 
O'Conor, Kirkland, Brown, Jordan, Looinis, Worden, Simmons, Bascom, 
Hart, Stephens, Patterson, Sears. 

11. On the rights and privileges of the citizens of this state. — Messrs. 
Tyllniadga, Ayrault, Swackhamer, Parish, D. D. Campbell, Witbeck, 
Yauger. 

12. On education, common schools, and the appropriate funds. — 
Messrs. Nicoll, Munro, Bowdish, A. W. Young, Tathill, Willard, Hunt. 

13. On future amendments and revisions of the constitution. — Mestira 
Marvin, Riker, Vache, Cook, Nellis, Graham, J. Young. 

14. On the organization and powers of cities and incorporated vil- 
lages, and especially their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing 



PIO POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1816. 

money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit. — Messrs. Murphy, 
Allen, Stow, Mann, Crooker, Van Schoonhoven, Sheldon. 

15. On the power of counties, towna, and other municipal corpora- 
tions, except cities and incorporated villages, and especially their pow- 
er of local legislation, taxation, assessment, borrowing money, and con- 
tracting debts.— "Messrs. Brown, R. Canipbeii, F. F. Backus, Smith, Tafft, 
Flanders, Candee. 

16. On the currency and banking.— Messrs Cambreling, Russell, Dor- 
Ion, Townsend, E. Spencer, Cuddeback, Taggart. 

17. On incorporations other than banking or municipal.— Mesxs. 
Loomis, Shepard, Bergen, Dana, Conelly, H. Backus, Warren. 

18. On the creation and division of estates in lands. — Messrs. Nelson, 
Harris, Flanders, Bull, A. Huntington, Hutchinson, Clyde. 

Of the subjects thus referred, it will readily be per- 
ceived that the third, in relation to canals, internal im- 
provements, pul)lic revenue and public debt ; the sixth, 
on the election and appointment of officers; the tenth, 
on the judiciary ; and the sixteenth, on the currency and 
banking, were the most important, and had most en- 
gaged the public attention. 

Various other important matters were, on the motion 
of individual members, referred to the standing com- 
mittees, according as the matter referred appeared to be 
analogous to the legitimate duties of the respective com- 
mittees. Thus, Mr. Kirkland,* of Oneida, on the 11th 
of June proposed the following resolutions : 



* Mr. Kirkland is a lawyer of high standing and character in the city 
of Utica. Owing, partly to a division in the democratic party in the 
county of Oneida, but it is presumed chiefly to the personal regard felt 
for his talents, and confidence in his discretion and integrity, he obtamed 
his election, although at that time the democratic majority in Oneida must 
have been more than one thousand. The great personal popularity of 
Mr. Henry Brayton, who was also a successful candidate on the same 
ticket with Mr. K., probably contributed to produce the result. 

I take the present occasion to supply an omission in the second volume • 
of my Political History. At page 511 of that volume it is stated, that at 
a whig caucus in the winter of 18.39, held for the purpose of nominating 
an attorney-general, J. A. Spencer, S. Stevens, and Willis Hall were can- 



1846.] aiTALlFICATIONS OF THE GOVERNOR. Gil 

" Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
report an amendment to the constitution depriving judicial 
officers of all power of appointment to office. 

"Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
report an amendment to the constitution prohibiting all judi- 
cial officers, except justices of the peace, from receiving any 
fees or perquisites for official services. 

" Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
report an amendment to the constitution abohshing the Court 
for the Correction of Errors, as now organized." 

Mr. Rhoades, the late senator from Onondaga, offered 
the following resolution, which was adopted : 

" Resolved, That it be referred to the committee on the 
powers and duties of the legislature to inquire into the expe- 
diency of so amending the constitution as to require the pas- 
sage of laws prohibiting any officer connected with the ad- 
ministration of justice in this state from aiding in the arrest or 
detention of any person claimed as a fugitive from slavery or 
involuntiiry servitude." 

And Mr. Stephen Allen, from New York, brought for- 
ward a proposition to abolish that part of the constitu- 
tion of 1821, which requires in any case the votes of 
two-thirds of the legislature in order to pass a law, ex- 
cept such bills as might be vetoed by the governor. 

The first serious discussion which took place in the 
convention on the subject of alterations in the constitu- 
tion, was that on the report of Mr. Morris on the exec- 
utive department. 

The constitution of 1821 provided that the governor 
should be a native citizen of the United States, a free- 

didates, and that each received a respectable support. I ought to have 

stated that Mr. Kirklaud was also made a candidate by his friends for 

that important office, and that a respectable portion of the whig party 

were anxiously desirous for his appointment. 

J. D. H. 



612 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

holder, thirty years old, and should have been five years 
a resident of the state. The report proposed no altera- 
tions in relation to the qualifications of the governor, 
except that it expunged that part of the old constitution 
which required that he should be a freeholder. The first 
alteration of the report was proposed by Mr. Murphy, 
vv^ho moved to strike out the word " native.''' This mo- 
tion brought up the question whether an adopted citizen 
should be eligible to the office of governor. The amend- 
ment was supported by Mr. Patterson, an able whig 
member from Chautauque, and the same gentleman who 
was speaker of the assembly in the year 1839-40.* 
Other members took the same side of the question, and' 
although Mr. Murphy's amendment encountered some 
opposition, it was adopted by a large majority. Mr. 
Patterson then moved to strike out that part of the sec- 
tion which required that the governor should be thirty 
years old ; and finally, Mr. Russell, of St. Lawrence, 
moved to strike out the whole section, and insert in lieu 
of it the following : 

" Any citizen of the United States qualified to vote at the 
general election at which he may be elected, shall be eligible 
to the office of governor." 

This amendment, if adopted, it will be perceived, 
would abolish all restrictions except that of being a 
qualified voter. This called out a protracted and able 
debate, in which nearly all the floor members took part. 
In support of the proposition it was, among other things, 
urged, that the electors themselves were competent to 
judge of the qualifications of the candidate for gov- 
ernor, and that the whole matter should and ought to 



» 2 Political History, pp. 504-519. 



1846.] SPEECH OF MR. PORTER. 613 

be left to their sovereign will and pleasure. That al- 
though it might be, and undoubtedly was, necessary to 
restrict the power, and place guards around the legisla- 
tive, judicial, and executive departments of the govern- 
ment, composed of persons who were the mere agents 
of the people, and therefore liable, from incapacity, or 
from sinister or corrupt motives, to abuse the trust re- 
posed in then), there could be no possible danger that 
the majority of the people at the polls of the election 
would prostitute the elective franchise by a sacrifice of 
their own rights or interests, or put either in jeopardy. 
Or if they did err, they alone were competent to, and 
ultimately would, correct the error. On the other hand, 
it was contended that the very object and intent of a 
written constitution was to adopt certain great and lead- 
ing principles which should never be violated, and to fix 
certain limits over which the people themselves, in a 
moment of haste, of want of correct information, or of 
excited passion, could not pass. 

This debate put in requisition all the speaking talent 
of the convention, and much ability was displayed du- 
ring its progress. For Mr. Russell's amendment, O'Con- 
or, Wordeii, Brown, of Orange, and Chatfield, deliver- 
ed uncommonly able arguments ; and against it, Sim- 
mons, Tallmadge, Jordan, and several others, distin- 
guished themselves. One of the ablest arguments in 
support of the section, as reported by the committee, 
was made by Mr. Porter, of Saratoga, who was himself 
a member of the select committee. Mr. Porter is a 
young man, and we believe never was before a member 
of any legally constituted deliberative body. 

Mr. Porter y)ointed out the distinction between per- 
sonal rights and eligibility to office. Even tlie right to- 

52 



614 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l840. 

be an elector was a conventional right, fixed and settled 
by a compact of the people when they formed their fun- 
damental or organic laws. Had not the young man, 
aged twenty years and six months, as much natural 
right to have a voice in the choice of his rulers, as the 
young man of twenty-one years of age ? Why had not 
females, especially those who hold property, a natural 
riffht to vote at the elections ? Our constitution, ever 
since the organization of our civil government as a state, 
had designated the description of persons who should 
exercise the elective franchise. The convention not 
only represented those who elected them, but a million 
and a half of other people. " The right to be free," said 
Mr. Porter, " was a natural right. It was the right of 
every citizen to exercise his voice in the selection of his 
rulers, but it was not his right to be selected as one of 
the rulers. 

" This question," said Mr. Porter, " was argued in a mas- 
terly manner the other day by the gentleman from New York, 
(Mr. 'Conor,) but he appealed to that distinguished man if 
he had not adopted a fallacy that was subversive of the whole. 
Says the gentleman, it is our right in convention to determine 
who the people are, by fixing their qualifications ; and having 
determined who they are, you have no power to restrict them. 
But the electors are not the people ; they are only part of the 
great whole. True, we were all of us elected to this body only 
by the qualified voters, but we are the representatives of all. 
Every man who voted for us was, in his turn, a representative 
of the people. The honorable gentleman from Albany, (Mr. 
Harris,) and the gentleman from Ontario, (Mr. Worden,) had 
told them that the people in convention assembled have no 
right to restrict any but delegated power. Why, the power of 
the electors is a delegated power by necessity of the social 
compact. This convention was elected by 450,000 men from 
amongst millions. Of these 450,000 exercising their right, 



1846.] SPEECH OF mr. porter. 615 

200,000 may be a plurality, and 200,000 then should possess 
unlimited power, without restriction, and exercise absolute do- 
minion over 2,500,000 citizens. They had a bill of rights, and 
did that apply to the electors ? No ; every man, woman, and 
child in your dominions is under the protection of that bill 
of rights. They are the people, and we are their representa- 
tives. Each voter who voted for each of us, represented him- 
self and five unqualified citizens. Is this no delegated power ? 
Why, we have a female population of 1,293,000 in the state 
of New York — three times the whole electoral body ; and 
their interest in this government is nearer and dearer than ours, 
for we are clothed with a mighty power through the ballot- 
box — we have strong arms to resist unto blood. But if the 
laws prove dangerous to liberty, the female population is use- 
less, powerless, defenceless. Again, there are more under 
than over the age of 21, and they, too, have deeper interest 
than we have in the constitution we are about to frame. They 
are to answer us and the electors who send us here ; if we sow 
the wind they are to reap the whirlwind. Now, we are con- 
stitutionally legislating for advancing millions — we are legisla- 
ting for generations yet to come. It was not a mere party 
that nominated us. The voters elected us, but we represent 
the whole people of the state of New York — each sex, age, 
and condition, ay, and the succeeding millions whose constitu- 
tional riohts we are now asserting, and around whom in ad- 
vance we throw constitutional barriers for the security of then- 
liberties. The magna charta that was extorted at Runnymede 
by Norman barons, was not for themselves alone, but for 
every citizen since born, and for every colony planted in the 
wilderness by their descendants, where it has burst in its 
growth through all colonial vassalage. Even our Declaration 
of Independence contains those doctrines of human lights 
which were first conceded, in the spirit of liberty, by marina 
charta. When, therefore, we enter into an elementary discus- 
sion, let us lay aside the spirit of the demagogue, and invoke 
a better spirit of patriotism, manly independence, and devotion 
to the great and permanent interest of the people." 



616 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

Mr. Porter concluded his long and able speech in 
these words : 

" Let those gentlemen who mounted the dappled hobby to 
run the race of popularity, take care lest they receive a fall. 
Let that man who is willing to overthrow the safeguards of 
popular liberty, great or small, beware lest he receive the pop- 
ular condemnation. That man, whoever he may be, will find 
little favor with the electors of New York, when, in their name 
or otherwise, he is willing to destroy one of the barriers against 
partisan violence, to overthrow or strike down one of the safe- 
guards of popular rights." 

The debate on this single question occupied nearly 
the whole of twelve days, and the amendment was final- 
ly lost, and the section, as originally reported, retained, 
after striking out the word " native," by a vote of 56 to 
41. In convention, the report of the committee of the 
whole on this section was sustained, 61 to 49. 

The public felt very little interest in this question. 
No one apprehended any serious danger if the restric- 
tion on the eligibility to the gubernatorial office should 
be entirely removed, because no person could seriously 
apprehend that a man who was under thirty years old, 
or who had not resided in the state for five years, would 
in the course of centuries be presented as a candidate 
for governor. The people, therefore, thought the re- 
striction would in practice be found useless, though they 
had no objection that it should be retained in the con- 
stitution. But the friends of constitutional reform, when 
they saw so much time spent in discussing a question 
comparatively of so little importance, did apprehend, 
with painful anxiety, that the time to which the session 
of the convention would be necessarily limited, would 
be consumed and wasted without the accomplishment of 
the great objects which brought into existence the con- 



1846.] THE VETO POWER. 617 

veution itself. Reflecting men, however, considered, 
that when so many talented men, most of whom are 
strangers to each other, meet together for the purpose 
of deliberating and deciding upon the principles of gov- 
ernment which ought to be adopted, a rage for speak- 
ing, a sort of cacoethes loquendi, will prevail, and that 
some measure must be taken to let off the superabun- 
dant gas. This debate had that eff*ect. 

The next subject of much importance which engaged 
the attention of the convention was the consideration 
of the 14th section, reported by the committee. That 
section provided, that if the governor should not approve 
of a bill passed by both houses of the legislature, he 
should return the same with his objections ; and unless 
upon reconsideration it should be passed by two-thirds of 
the members present, it should not become a law. This 
brought under the review of the convention the great 
question of the propriety of vesting the executive with 
what is called the veto power. The question was 
brought before the house by the following amendment, 
oflTered by Mr. Rhoades : 

" Strike out all afier the word it, at the end of the finst sen- 
tence, and insert as follows : — ' If, after such reconsideration, 
a majority of all the members elected shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 
proved by a majority of all the members elected, it shall be- 
come a law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. 
But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against 
the bill be entered on the journal of each house respectively.' " 

This was supported by the mover, Patterson, Penni- 
man, O'Conor, and several others. Among the menibers 
who delivered speeches in favor of this amendment was 

52* 



618 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l846. 

W. B. Wright, of Sullivan county, now a justice of the 
Supreme Court, who made an able, learned, and elabo- 
rate argument on the question. It was resisted by W. 
Taylor, Loomis, Brown, Stetson, and Stow, and others, 
who sustained, with great ability, the propriety of vest- 
ing in the governor the veto power. 

In the committee of the whole the amendment of Mr. 
Rhoades was adopted ; but when the report came into 
the house, upon calling the ayes and noes, the two-third 
clause was sustained by the strong vote of 61 to 86. 

While the report of the committee on the executive 
department was under consideration, Mr. Mann, from 
New York, proposed a resolution that the vote of a ma- 
jority of all the members elected should be necessary in 
order to pass any bill into a law. This very judicious 
resolution was adopted, and is now a part of the consti- 
tution. 

The article on the subject of the executive depart- 
ment was finally completed by the convention on the 
20th day of July. 

On the next day the convention went into committee 
of the whole, on the report of the committee (called No. 
1) on the legislative department. The first question 
considered was, Of what number should the senate con- 
sist ? The select committee had reported in favor of 
the number fixed in 1800, and retained in the constitu- 
tion of 1821, which was 32. Mr. Worden proposed to 
increase the number to 50. This proposition called out 
an able and interesting debate ; but the convention, af- 
ter rejecting propositions that the number of senators 
should be 48, 42, 40, 39, and 36, adopted, by a decided 
majority, the old number of 32. 

The convention next had under consideration the 



1846.1 ELECTluN liV SINGLE DISTRICTS. 619 

terra for which a senator should hold his office. Four, 
three, and two years were proposed, but the period of 
two years was preferred by the strong vote of 80 to 23. 
After this matter was disposed of, the question whether 
the senators should be elected from single districts, or 
whether two or more senators should be chosen from 
one district, was considered, which finally resolved it- 
self into the question whether the state should be divi- 
ded into 16 or 32 districts. Mr. Morris, of New York, 
made a speech of considerable length and great pungen- 
cy, in favor of electing both the members of the senate 
and assembly from single districts, inasmuch as the sin- 
gle district system brought the elector and candidate 
nearer together, and in most cases would enable the 
former to judge, from his own personal knowledge, of 
the qualifications and merits of the latter. It would al- 
so, he contended, prevent sinister combinations for the 
nomination and election of a batch of candidates, to ac- 
complish objects of which the real constituency were 
entirely ignorant. Morris, as reported by Messrs. S. 
Croswell and Sutton, said — 

" He knew a young man being sent here from New York, 
whom they supposed there, when they were voting for him, 
that they were voting either for his uncle or his grandfather. 
They never discovered their mistake until the delegation got 
together, when they found they had elected a very clever boy 
of 21, instead of a man of experience." 

" Mr. Richmond : The mistake was not discovered until he 
came here to be sworn. I was here then." 

" Mr. Morris continued : ' When a number of members were 
to be elected by the same constituency, these members must 
of necessity almost be unknown to the constituency ; and they 
were selected for the purpose of performing other services than 
mere legislative duty. The time came round, for instance. 



620 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

when a flour inspector, or a beef inspector, or a tobacco in- 
spector was to be appointed. One wanted a judge, another, 
notary public, another, master in chancer}', another, commis- 
sioner of deeds, and so on ; and they clubbed together, each 
man picked out his own friend, and, by a combination for 
office, and office alone, they packed your committees, control- 
led your conventions, made your nominations, and elected your 
delegates. It was this conduct which, so far as regarded New 
York, made them cry aloud for a convention ; and when they 
called, they called also for single districts, and they sent us all 
here instructed.' " 

The convention finally resolved, by a vote of 79 to 
31, that the senators should be elected from single dis- 
tricts. 

The seventh section of the report of committee No. 1 
was now taken up, which directed that the members of 
the assembly should also be chosen by single districts. 
This mode of electing the assembly was opposed by 
Chatfield and others, but a very considerable majority 
was found to be in favor it. 

The section, as reported, directed that the legislature, 
at their next annual session, should divide the state into 
assembly districts. Cook, of Saratoga, proposed that 
the districts in counties entitled to more than one mem- 
ber, should be formed by the board of supervisors of the 
respective counties. This alteration v/as opposed by 
Swackhamer, Perkins, and Chatfield. Chatfield, in a 
brief speech of some warmth, alluded to party interests 
and party feeling. This was the first allusion to party 
considerations which had been made from any quarter, 
but the appeal was unsuccessful. Cook's amendment 
was carried by a majority of more than two to one. 

The tenth section of this article, which next came up 
for consideration, was in these words : 



1846.] REPORT 0\ THE JUDICIARY. 621 

"§ 10. Xo member of the legislature shall receive any civil 
;ipp()intment within this state, or to the senate of the United 
States, from the governor, the governor and senate, or from 
the legishiture, during the term for which he shall have been 
elected." 

On the motion of Mr. Simnnons, to strike out the >tords, 
" or to the sennte of the United States," a very interest- 
ing debate took place in relation to the power of the 
state to qualify or restrict the choice of senators of the 
United States, as being inconsistent with the constitu- 
tion of the latter government, which elicited much pro- 
found thinking and learning. Simmons, Stow, Marvin, 
O'Conor, and Taggart, supported this amendment ; and 
Stetson. Ruggles, Angel, Worden, and Jones, opposed 
it, as did also Gen. Tallmadge. Judge Ruggles' speech 
on this question is especially worthy of attention. The 
amendment of Mr. Simmons was, however, rejected by 
a large majority. 

The report from the judiciary committee had been 
looked for with deep anxiety by the public at large as 
well as the convention. The inconveniences and de- 
lays in the administration of justice under the system 
adopted by the convention of 1821, had become nearly 
intolerable. All felt the need, and indeed we mav say, 
the absolute necessity of great and radical alterations 
in the judicial department of the government, b«t as to 
what those alterations should be, and what should be the 
details of the new scheme, intelligent men differed wide- 
ly. Almost every lawyer had formed his own plan of 
judiciary reform, which in some of its features differed 
from all others. Each of course had become attached 
to his own peculiar system. Hence after repeated trials, 
from year to year no one system could be devised which- 



622 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

could command even a constitutional majority of votes 
in the house of assembly. These unsuccessful efforts, 
and the desire of many to incorporate into the organic 
law the substance of the financial system adopted by 
the statute of 1842, were the principal causes which in- 
duced the legislature and the people to create a conven- 
tion with unrestricted powers. 

The selection by the president of the members to 
compose the judiciary committee, furnished a strong evi- 
dence of his wisdom and discretion. It was impossible 
to have chosen from that convention, or indeed any other 
deliberative body, thirteen men more competent to ar- 
rive at a result, beneficial and satisfactory to the public, 
than those chosen by Mr. Tracy on this occasion. 
O'Conor, Kirkland, Brown, Jordan, Worden, and Sim- 
mons, were learned lawyers of great eminence ; Stet- 
son had sustained a high reputation as a member of 
congress ; Loomis was well known to the community 
as an able legislator, and as a man well versed in 
the theory of government, possessing a bold, enterpri- 
sing, and acute mind ; Bascom, from Seneca, a man 
of acknowledged talents, had been an early and able 
advocate for radical judicial reform, by the publication 
of a monthly periodical called " The Memorial," and 
by oral lectures and addresses delivered by him in va- 
rious places ; Patterson, in the course of this work, has 
frequently been mentioned as a man of uncommon in- 
tellectual power, and an able, clear-sighted, and patri- 
otic legislator ; Mr. Hart, a merchant of Oswego, and 
Mr. Sears, a farmer of Tompkins, were both of them re- 
spectable in their respective avocations, and estimable 
as citizens. The selection of the chairman was equally 
judicious and fortunate. We do not mean to write a 



184C.] REPORT OF MR. RUGGLES. 623 

eulogy on Judge Ruggles. To say that during his long 
service in the judiciary department, he had afforded evi- 
dence of rigid impartiality, strict integrity, and great 
legal learning and talent, would be saying no more than 
what is universally known and acknowledged. But Mr. 
Ruggles possessed some other qualities, which fitted him 
in a peculiar manner for the position the president had 
assigned him. Few men ever lived who excelled him 
in prudence and caution. We may add, too, that his 
nice regard for the feelings of others, and his extreme 
modesty, extinguished all envy and jealousy among his 
fellow-members. 

On the 1st day of August, Judge Ruggles, as chair- 
man of the judiciary committee, made a report. Il will 
be unnecessary to give the details of this important doc- 
ument, because it was substantially adopted by the con- 
vention, and now constitutes the sixth article of the 
constitution of the state. 

Mr. Ruggles, on making his report, delivered a speech 
in which, without any attempt at display or ornament, 
he pointed out with great perspicuity the defects of the 
then existing judiciary establishn)ent, and the general 
principles contained in his report, together with the 
grounds on which it was hoped that the plan he pro- 
posed, would, if approved by the convention and the 
people, provide adequate means for removing those de- 
fects. 

One great question which had been agitated by law- 
yers, and considered by the committee, was, whether 
legal and equitable jurisdiction could, consistent with 
the correct administration of justice, be conferred on the 
same tribunal. On this subject Mr. Ruggles said — 

" In regard to this uuiou of the two courts there haS been 



624 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

a difference of opinion among the members of the committee. 
On the one hand it has been urged, with great force, that the 
perfection of skill, in learning as in the arts, is best attained 
by the division of labor ; and that in the vast held of juris- 
prudence it would be better to class the laborers into separate 
departments, so that the skill and learning of each might be 
limited and directed to that one particular branch of duty 
for which he might be most eminently qualified. On the other 
hand, that system is supposed by some to be attended with 
the inconvenience of having too many tribunals. By others 
it is believed that by uniting the two tribunals in one, the 
modes of procedure at law and in equity, which now differ 
widely, may immediately by legal enactment, or more gradu- 
ally by the action and practice of the court, be assimilated and 
finally blended, thus obliterating and abolishing the distinction 
between law and equity as heretofore recognised. Without 
coming to this conclusion, several of the committee, who were 
inclined to favor the continuance of separate courts, have re- 
o-arded it as a question not of vital importance ; and they have 
yielded their original preference for separate courts in favor of 
what they deem the greater advantages of the plan reported. 
The union of the two jurisdictions in the same court is not an 
untried e.xpeiiment. It has the sanction of a number of the 
states ; and, in part, of the judicial system of the United States. 
One of its advantages, in connection with the plan of the com- 
mittee, arises from the greater facility and convenience Avith 
whicli the equity causes involving questions of fact, may be 
tried before a jury at the circuit in the county where the par- 
ties reside, and without the formality and expense of a separ- 
ate court. One of the changes recommended by the committee, 
a,nd which they all regard as highly important and useful, re- 
lates to the taking of testimony in equity causes. Heretofore 
it has been taken by deposition before an examiner in chance- 
ry, and not in open court. The e.xaminer not being authorized 
to reject any testimony which cither parly proposes to take, 
the depositions are usually encumbered with a vast mass of 
matter immaterial to the questions in controversy. A great 



1846.] SPEECH OF MR. RUGGLES. 625 

proportion of the delay and expense of litigation in chancery 
arises from this cause. The committee recommend a provi- 
sion directing the evidence to be taken before the judge on 
the trial, as in cases of common law. Although this is a matter 
within the power of tlie legislature, it has long been the sub- 
ject of complaint, and the evil has remained without correction. 
The committee consider it so essential in the way of reform, 
and so material in relation to the operation of the system re- 
ported, that they deem it worthy of constitutional enactment. 
The justices of the Supreme Court, as proposed by the com- 
mittee, are to be charged with the entire judicial business — 
legal and equitable, civil and criminal — which lias heretofore 
been done by the Supreme Court, the Court of Chancery, and 
the county courts. The weight and burden of tlie business is 
considerably increased by the duty charged upon the judges 
of taking the testimony in equity cases in open court at the 
circuit. For these varied and extensive duties the number of 
judges of the Supreme Court must be large. The committee 
propose eight districts, and four judges in each district — thir- 
ty-two in the whole — of which number, however, four are to 
be judges of the Court of Appeals, leaving twenty-eight judges 
for the actual business of the Supreme Court. These judges 
are to hold as many general and special terms in each dis- 
trict, and as many Circuit Courts and courts of Oyer and Ter- 
miner in each county, as may be necessary. By the svstem 
thus proposed, the committee have endeavored to provide a 
remedy for the deficiencies of the present organization : — 

" 1st. By adapting the number of active judicial officers to 
the altered ciicumstances of the state, and to the quantity of 
work to be done. 

" 2d. By reducing the number of judges of the appellate 
court for its greater convenience and efficiency in the dispatch 
of business. 

" 3d. By separating that court from its connection with the 
legislative branch of the government. 

" 4th. By tlie redaction of the number of appeals in civil 
cases, consequent on the establishment of a single court. 

53 



626 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 

" 5th. By diminishing the delay and expense of litigation 
in the Court of Chancery, in the mode of taking evidence, and 
by providing a number of judges sufficient to dispatch the bu- 
siness of that court. 

"6th. By establishing a branch of the court in each of the 
eight districts, so that the busiaes.s may be done where it arises, 
without journeying to distant parts of the state for the hear- 
iiiU' of causes. 

" 7th. By abolishing the system of circuit judges, and re- 
quiring their duty to be done by the judges of the Supreme 
Court. 

" 8th. By an inflexible rule that all judicial officers, above 
the grade of justices of the peace, shall be compensated by 
fixed salaries, and shall not receive fees or perquisites of office." 

When Mr. Rurj-des concluded his remarks, Mr. 
O'Conor produced a minority report, in which he offer- 
ed a substitute for the article reported by the majority 
of the- committee. Mr. O'C. objected to the plan pro- 
posed by Mr. Ruggles — 

1. Because in his opinion the judges of the Supreme 
Court ought not to be elected by the people, but should 
be appointed by the senate and assembly. 

2. Because by the plan of Mr. Ruggles, it was pro- 
posed to abolish the county courts. 

3. Because he wished to preserve the unity of the 
Supreme Court ; and the report of the majority of the 
committee recommended the creation of eight separate 
tribunals, each of which was to exercise the authority 
and the functions of a Supreme Court. 

These and other objections against the majority re- 
port were urged by Mr. O'Conor with great skill and 
ability. 

The report and speech of Mr. O'Conor were followed 
by the presentation by Mr. Kirkland of another minority 



1846.] REPORTS ON TIU: JUDICIARY. 627 

report. His scheme, like the others, proposed to abolish 
the existing Court for the Correction of Errors, and sub- 
stitute a court of appeals, to consist of seven judges, 
three of whonn should be elected by the people, and the 
remaining four be appointed by the governor, with the 
consent of the senate. 

2. That the state should be divided into six districts, of 
which the city of New York should be one ; that in each 
district there should be a superior court, to consist, in 
New York, of six judges, and in the other districts, of 
four ; two of the judges in each district to be elected by 
the people, and the remaining judges to be appointed by 
the senate and assembly, by ballot. The judges to hold 
their offices for ten vears. 

3. Mr. Kirkland proposed to establish county courts 
in each county, to be composed of a first judge, who 
was to be ex officio surrogate, and an associate judge : 
both to be elected by the qualified electors. In each of 
the judicial districts he proposed there should be a cir- 
cuit judge, (and in the city of New York four.) These 
judges were to be judges of the county court, and should 
singly hold courts for the trial of civil causes. In crim- 
inal cases the two county judges were to be associated 
with him. An appeal was to lie from the county court 
to the superior court of the district. Mr. K. proposed 
to confer on all these courts equitable as well as legal 
powers. 

Notwithstanding these projets were before the con- 
vention, Mr. Bascom presented a fourth minority re- 
port. He said, that "however much he regretted the 
necessity of increasing the number of the reports from 
the judiciary committee, he would detain the convention 
with no other apology than to say, that a sense of duty 



628 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

impelled him to submit another minority report. He 
objected particularly to that part of the report that 
sought to perpetuate exclusive chancery jurisdiction 
during the continuance of the constitution. Hereto- 
fore this jurisdiction had been created and continued by 
law, and would be by law limited or destroyed. He 
objected, too, to the mode proposed for the appointment 
of the judges. He objected also that the proposition of 
the committee does not distribute the sessions of the 
court sufficiently throughout the state, and that the plan 
only provides for a session of the court in each of tlie 
eight districts. He desired that bank sessions should be 
held in all or nearly all the counties in the state. He 
objected also to the power proposed to be given to the 
legislature, not only to increase the judges of the pro- 
posed courts, but to create and multiply inferior courts 
without limitation !" 

Mr. Bascom proposed — 

1. That the court for the trial of impeachments should 
consist of the senators and the judges of the Supreme 
Court, or the major part of them, whose term of office 
should be within two years, but not within one year of 
its expiration. 

"§ 3. All other judicial power shall be vested in justices' 
courts, a supreme court, and in surrogates. 

" § 4. Justices of the peace shall be chosen by the electors 
in such districts, in such numbers and for such periods of 
time, and their powers, jurisdiction, and duties shall be such 
as are, or may be, prescribed by law. 

"The supreme court shall have such powers and jurisdic- 
tion as shall be prescribed by law. 

" There shall be tliirty-two judges thereof, one of which 
shall be elected b}^ the c;lectors of each of the senate districts, 
at a special election, at which no other officer shall be chosen. 



1846.] REPORTS ON THE JUDICIARY. G29 

"The said judges shall hold their office for four years, ex- 
cept a j>art of those first to be chosen. Vacancies shall be 
filled at special elections to be ordered by the governor, and 
judges chosen to fill vacancies shall hold only for the unex- 
pired term. 

" § 6. Four of the senate districts shall compose a judicial 
district, and the judges first to be chosen in a judicial district 
shall, at a time and place to be designated by the governor, 
meet and draw for terms, of one, two, three, and four years. 
The term of the judges chosen in the different judicial dis- 
tricts, shall commence in different months of the year. 

" § 7. There shall be a circuit session by one of the judges 
of the supreme court in each of the counties of the judicial 
district, as often as the judges thereof shall deem proper, for 
the trial by jury of all issues that may be joined in civil and 
criminal causes, and for the rendering of final judgments in 
criminal causes. For the trial and decision of criminal causes 
there shall be associated with the judge, the surrogate and 
one justice of the peace of the county, or, in the absence of 
the surrogate, two justices of the peace. 

" § 8. There shall be bank sessions of not less than three nor 
more than four judges of the supreme court in the several 
counties of the judicial districts, at such times and places as 
to the judges thereof shall seem proper, to review the decis- 
ions and proceedings of the circuit sessions, and to discharge 
such other duties, in relation to the administration of justice 
and the establishment of rights, as shall be prescribed by law. 

" § 9. There shall be appeal sessions composed of the 
judges whose term of office shall be within one year of its ter- 
mination, in the several judicial distiicts of the state, at such 
times and places as shall be appointed by the said judges, 
unless said times and places shall be fixed by law, at whicJi 
the decisions of the sessions in bank may be reviewed, and 
such other judicial powers exercised as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

" § 10. Surrogates of counties shall be chosen by the electors 
thereof, and shall hold their offices for four years. 

53* 



630 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

" Their powers and jurisdiction over the estates of deceased 
persons and other matters, shall be such as arc or may be 
prescribed by law. 

"The legislature may provide that issues joined in any 
proceedings before surrogates may be tried at the circuit ses- 
sions, and that any of the proceedings of surrogates may be 
reviewed by the supreme court. 

"§ 11. The clerks of the several counties of this state shall 
be clerks of the supreme court, with such powers and duties 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

"§12. A clerk of the appeal sessions shall be appointed 
by the judges thereof, who shall hold his office at the 
pleasure of the said judges, and shall receive such compensa- 
tion as shall be prescribed by law. 

"§ 13. The judges of the supreme court shall receive no 
fees or perquisites of office, other than a fixed salary ; and 
any alteration thereof sliall only affect those to be theretifter 
chosen ; but an allowance for travelling expenses, in addition 
to a fixed salary, may be made to a judge required to dis- 
charge judicial duties without his judicial district." 

Mr. Simmons said he should not ojETer a minority re- 
port, although there were some things in the report of 
the majority to which he could not yield his assent. 
He said he must however frankly •' confess that the 
very beautiful speech of the chairman (Mr. Ruggles) 

had made it appear better to him than it did last even- 

- )) 
mg. 

The points on which Mr. vS. differed from the com- 
mittee, were — 

1. He was opposed to the election of judges by the 
people, unless the term of holding office could be ex- 
tended. 

2. He was in favor.of 32 judges, but desired a differ- 
ent organization of tlie Supreme Court. 

3. He was opposed to blending law and equity, and 



1846.] MR. r.ROWN'ri OPINION. 631 

vesting the powers of both in the same tribunal. " He 
could not think it would be wise in us, in opposition to 
the declared opinions of every judge he had read of — 
from Lord Bacon down to Chancellor Kent and Judge 
Story — to amalgamate these two jurisdictions. He 
thought it hishlv dangerous to convert this standing ar- 
mv of judges into so many chancellors, with all the ar- 
bitrary po '. er of that court." 

INIr. Loomis said he concurred cordially in the main 
principles and leading features of the report, but he dis- 
approved of the abolition of the county court ; and he 
read three sections, which he said he should offer as an 
amendment. The material parts of these sections were 
ultimately adoi)ted by the convention, and are now a 
part of the constitution. It is therefore unnecessary, at 
this time, to state in detail those sections. 

Mr. Brown did not coiicur with Mr. Loomis. He 
thought the courts held by justices of the peace ought 
to be preserved as they then existed, and that the courts 
of common pleas ought to be abolished. The office of 
surrogate, in his judgment, should be continued and 
modified, so that the surrogate should have a fixed sala- 
ry in lieu of perquisites, and that the proof of wills 
should be transferred to the Supreme Court. The num- 
ber of judges of the Supreme Court, including the judges 
of the Court of Appeals, should be forty. 

After making these suggestions, Mr. Brown sustained 
the leading principles of the report in an able and elo- 
quent speech. It ought to be mentioned that Mr. Brown 
expressed a wish " that the terms of the Court of Ap- 
peals and the terms of the Supreme Court, should be 
justly distributed among the judicial districts by consti- 
tutional provision." " It was far easier and more appro- 



632 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

priate," said Mr. Brown, " for the courts to follow the 
people, than for the people to follow the courts." 

Mr. Worden, some five or six days after this, presented 
a fifth minority report. It contained eighteen sections, 
the substance of which is stated in the following brief 
but lucid speech delivered by Mr. Worden on that oc- 
casion : 

" Mr. Worden briefly explained the provisions of his plan. 
He proposed to abolish the Court for the Correction of Errors, 
and to substitute in its place a court, to consist of a chief-jus- 
tice and nine associate justices ; abolish the Court of Chanceiy, 
and to substitute a court of equity, under the control of the 
legislature, to consist of not less than five judges. In regard 
to the Supreme Court, he proposed to make it consist of no 
less than nineteen judges, a chief-justice, and twelve associate 
justices, who shall be divided into four classes of three each. 
The tii-st class, in which shall be the chief -justice, making a 
class of four judges, shall hold terms in bank for two years ; 
the other nine justices to hold circuits and special terms for 
the hearing of non-enumerated motions, giving to the legisla- 
ture power to convene any other of the classes to hold tei-ms 
in bank wherever the business shall recpiire it. He proposed 
to divide the state into five judicial districts, of which the city 
and county of New York shall be one, and to provide for the 
holding of circuit courts in each of the districts, for the trial of 
issues, to be held by one of the justices of the Supreme Court. 
The Courts of Oyer and Terminer to be held as they now are. 
Tlie judicial districts, except that consisting of the city and 
county of New York, to be subdivided so as to make eight 
districts, for each of which there shall be a presiding judge ; 
and in each county two county judges to be elected, who, 
with the president judge, shall constitute the Court of Coin- 
mon Pleas. He proposed so to form the system that the 
equity courts shall be remodelled, leaving, however, the diffi- 
cult and delicate duty to ti^.e legislature to adopt the reforms 
that may become expedient, lie projiosed to abolish masters 



1816.] SPEECH OF .MR. WORDEN. 633 

and examiners in chancery, and to have all testimony taken 
before one of the judges of the court of equity, or the presi- 
dent judge of the common pleas, so that the vast expense of 
taking testimony may be done away ; and leaving it to the 
legislature to provide by law for the decision of cases in chan- 
cery before a president judge of the common pleas, or any 
judge of that court. He would have the courts in the 
city of New York as they now i^re, leaving to the legislature 
power over those courts. For the purpose of disposing of the 
equity business of the city of New York, he proposed to leave 
it as it is, with two officers, who shilj have the power which 
he proposed to confer on the presiding judges of the common 
pleas in the several districts. Such was briefly the plan he 
submitted. In regard to the election of judges, there were 
already two propositions before the convention, and he begged 
leave to say a word : The judicial power of the state was, in 
its nature and character, totallv different from the leofislative 
and executive. Its variance was essential from both of those 
departments. While both the legislature and the executive 
should respond freely to the public will, the judiciary was an- 
other branch of our government, by which individual rights 
were to be determined and settled on fundamental principles 
which cannot, or should not, change or alter, whether one 
man stand in opposition to the people, or the people in oppo- 
sition to one man. In that consists the dignity, efficiency, and 
purity of the judiciary system. It must not, therefore, be 
made to depend on the caprice or fluctuation of either public 
or private opinion. He believed it was possible to frame a 
system for an elective judiciary on a safer and better plan than 
that reported by the majority of the committee, and hence he 
had not agreed to that precisely. He had now only to say, 
that the pole star to guide them was to have the judiciary in- 
dependent, as far as possible, of the influence of any exciting 
questions that might arise in the other departments of the 
government, or amongst the people at large, so that individual 
;ind public rights may be settled on great and fundamental 
principles." 



634 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

We have been the more particular in presenting to 
the reader the several projects of the members of the 
judiciary committee, because we think the community, 
and indeed that posterity, ought to be acquainted with 
the different opinions, formed after much reflection, of 
these learned and enlightened men, on the best means 
of securing a faithful, expeditious, and correct adminis- 
tration of justice in a free and highly commercial com- 
monwealth.* 

Mr. Chatfield's report from No. 0, on the state offi- 
cers, was then taken up by the convention, and it was 
adopted in nearly all its material parts. The first sec- 
tion of the article, as reported, fixed the salary of those 
officers. A motion was made by Mr. Marvin to strike 
out that part of the section which fixed the salaries. A 
long debate ensued, but his motion finally succeeded, 
73 to 33. 

Mr. Talmadge's report from No. 11, on rights and 
privileges, was, after the report from No. 6 was dis- 
posed of, considered, and the main features of it adopt- 
ed. While in committee of the whole on rights and 
privileges, Mr. Danforth, of Jefferson county, offered as 
an amendment, the section from the old constitution 



* The time allowed to the author for digesting the proceedings of the 
convention, as reported by Messrs. Croswell and Sutton, has been very 
short ; and from the great variety of projects presented by the members 
of the judiciary committee, and the number and length of the speeches 
delivered, he has reason to be apprehensive that he may in some instances 
have mistaken, and, of course, misrepresented their views. lie can only 
eay, that if hereafter he shall be informed of any errors in his statements, 
or if he si;all, upon a more critical examination, discover such errors, 
they sliJill pror)iptly be corrected Tn do full justice to the tiierits of the 
gentlemen who took part in this and other discussions, in this brief sketch 
of the proceedings of the convention, is quite out of the question. 

J. D H. 



1846.] JUDICIAL REFORM. 635 

commonly known as Gov. Jay's section, which dechires 
clergymen ineligible to any office. It will be observed 
that the committee No. 1 1 had (as we think very prop- 
erly) left this section out of their article. This amend- 
ment was opposed by Patterson, Salsbury, Taggart, and 
Young, and supported by Crooker and the mover. 
The proposition met with very little favor from the con- 
vention. 

On the tenth day of August the convention went into 
committee of the whole on the report of the judiciary 
committee. 

The majority report was assailed from various quar- 
ters, and efforts were made to change its features by 
amendments. 

On the llth of August, Mr. Jordan made an able 
argument in favor of the system proposed by the com- 
mittee, as being on the whole most likely to receive the 
approbation of a majority of the convention, though 
the system did not in all respects meet his particular 
views. lie however urged the necessity of yielding in- 
dividual predilections as respected " minor points, for the 
general good." 

He was followed bv Mr. Kirkland, who commenced 
by exhibiting in bold relief the evils of the then existing 
system, and showing the absolute necessity of judicial 
reform. He then, with great ingenuity and ability, at- 
tempted to show the superiority of the plan he had sub- 
mitted, over that proposed by the majority of the com- 
mittee, and concluded a lengthy and highly interesting 
argument in a liberal and conciliatory spirit, in these 
words : " I will now, Mr. Chairman, close my remarks 
by saying, that I have no piide of oy»inion as to the plan 
I have presented. After mature reflection, I believe it 



636 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

one in whose practical workings entire confidence may 
be placed. Whether rejected or adopted by the con- 
vention, my duty is discharged by presenting it." 

Various other speeches were made for and against 
the majority report, and on the 18th of August Mr. 
Simmons concluded a long and learned argument, which 
had occupied several days, by proposing the following 
amendment — 

" Resolved, That the report of the judiciary committee be 
so arranged that sixteen of the judges be arranged inio four 
courts of general jui-isdiction, one of Avhich shall be a court of 
equity ; each court to hold terms in bank, at least twice 
yearly, in each of the four districts of the state, to be com- 
posed of eight senatorial districts ; and the other sixteen 
judges to compose four courts of local jurisdiction within a 
judicial district, one of which shall be a court of equity, which 
shall hold respectively a court two terms in bank yearly, in 
each of the said districts, and at different times and places 
fi-om the other courts : the former courts to be entitled su- 
preme courts, the latter superior courts ; the judges of the 
former to be selected for sixteen years; of the latter, for eight 
years. The legislature shall have power to constitute such 
county, city, and town courts as may be deemed necessary ; 
and to transfer such jurisdiction and powers from the equity/ 
to the common law courts, and from these to the former, and 
to presciihe such similar and common forms of proceeding and 
of remedies, as may be deemed practicable and expedient." 

On the next day Mr. Crooker offered an amendment 
to the report of the judiciary committee, providing for 
the election of one county judge, and two justices of the 
peace who were to be his associates on the trial of crim- 
inal cases: the judge solely to hold a county court for 
the trial of civil causes, to perform the duties of the 
office of surrogate, to have appellate jurisdiction only, 
and to be compensated by an annual salary. This 



1846.] COURT OF APPEALS. 637 

amendinent was finally adopted, and the substance of it 
is now a part of the constitution. 

Mr. O'Conor said he " would preserve in all their 
strength and integrity our county courts, and elev<':.te 
their character." In allusion to the scheme just men- 
tioned and proposed hy Mr. Crooker, which had been 
previously indicated by Mr. Loomis, Mr. O'Conor 
said : "' The argument in favor of county courts had 
been found so powerful, that the enemies of it had been 
induced to give us one in name but not in substance — 
a kind of little county cormorant to eat up the justices' 
courts — a perambulatory sort of court* — a kind of bull- 
frog, going about the county to devour the small frogs. 
It was to be a mongrel court, neither the old common 
pleas nor the general sessions, but a mixture of both, 
with some additions." 

Mr. Jordan replied to Mr. O'Conor, and in the 
course of his speech took ground in favor of Mr. 
Crooker's amendment. 

On the 25th day of August, the consideration of the 
report of the judiciary committee was taken from the 
committee of the whole. The first question decided 
was on the motion of Mr. Hart, that all the judges of 
the court of appeals should be elected by the people. 

Mr. Chatfield in advocating this motion said — 

" The court of appeals was the court of the people at 
large, and should be elected by the people at large. He was 
willing as a party man to take his chance in electing them. 
If the party opposed to liim elected them all, he should say 
amen to it. If his own party succeeded he should be grati- 

• The 14th section of Mr. Crooker's amendment provided that the 
county judge might hold his court at any place iu the county which the 
couveuieuce of the public might require. 

54 



638 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84G, 

ficd. He was not one of those who would throw every thing 
valuable to his party out of tlie hands of that party. He 
wished it to be understood, that in desiring a general ticket 
system, he had an eye to the men to be elected. He had no 
concealments on the subject. He was not willing to concede 
that if the democratic party should carry all these judges, 
that therefore they would be the worst men in the state. He 
put himself on the open and manly ground in this matter. 
He avowed that in voting for this amendment, he acted on 
party considerations, and so did everybody else, disguise it 
as they might." 

Mr. Harris, in reply, said — 

" It was with some regret that he heard the remarks which 
had just fallen from the gentleman from Otsego, (Mr. Chat- 
field.) Mr. H. knew nothing which he admired more than to 
see a body of men like this, whose situation entitles them to 
influence and to take the lead in public affairs, rising supoior 
to party influences, casting off party connections, forgetting 
party interests, and devoting themselves to the public good, 
rendering ptirty objects subservient to the public welfare. 
He had, therefore, with some pride, seen the course which 
had hitherto been taken by this convention. From all quar- 
ters were heard congratulations that party lines had been dis- 
regarded, and that party interests had been forgotten, in our 
deliberations. It was with pain, then, that he had witnessed 
the attempt of the gentleman from Otsego to bring party 
interests to bear upon the question." 

Mr. Hart's amendment was rejected by a vote of 71 
to 24. 

Mr. Harris and others took the ground that all the 
judges of the Court of Appeals should be taken from the 
judges of the Supreme Court who had the shortest term 
to serve, but this proposition was rejected by the con- 
vention by a majority of more than three to one. 

Several other ineffectual attempts were made to amend 
or alter the second section of the article, which was that 



1846.] justices' courts. G39 

relating to the Court of Appeals ; but it soon appeared 
that a rhajority of the convention were determined to 
adopt it as it came from the judiciary committee. On 
the final vote 63 were given for and 43 against it. 

On the motion of Mr. Murphy it was decided that the 
judges of the Supreme Court should be elected by single 
senatorial districts, 60 to 49 ; but Mr. Brown immedi- 
ately moved to reconsider that vote, when the subject 
was fully canvassed, and Mr. Brown's motion succeed- 
ed by a majority of eight. 

During these discussions upon the judiciary system, 
Mr. J. J. Taylor, of Tioga, proposed the following plan 
for the reorganization of justices' courts. It did not seem 
to attract much attention, but it is certainly ingenious, 
and ought to be preserved. These courts are every day 
becoming more and more important, and we cannot but 
think that something like Mr. Taylor's scheme will ulti- 
mately be adopted. 

" 1. Abolish our present justices' courts. 

" 2. Let the boards of supervisors divide each county into 
such a number of judicial districts that one man may be able 
to try all the causes, civil and criminal, cognizable before a 
justice within each district, say two or three to each member 
of assembly. 

" 3. Elect one justice for each district, either by the elec- 
tors of the county at large or by the voters in each district. » 

" 4. Let the clerk of each town be a clerk of the justices' 
courts. 

" 5. Let the process be issued by the clerk, and issues be 
joined before him. 

" 6. Let a list of the legal jurors in each town be kept by 
the clerk, and one or two days previous to the term let the 
clerk draw, and the constable summon twelve persons to at- 
tend, out of which jurors six may be draAvn for each cause. 

" V. For tlie riii;-pose of facilit;-. ting collections, allow a plain- 



610 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 

tiii in actions on contract, v/ith the first process; to have a dec- 
Iiration served, and bill of particulars of his demand, and of 
the credits he is willinsf to allow the defendant ; and unless the 
defendant put in a plea within six days, and swear to a de- 
fence, let judgment be entered by the clerk by default. 

" 8. Let the justice have power to set aside or correct judg- 
ments improperly entered by the clerk. 

" 9. Let a gross amount of justice's fees on each trial be 
paid by the plaintiff, and recoverable of the defendant, and 
let such fees be paid into the county treasury. 

" 10. Let each justice be paid a competent salary out of the 
county treasury. 

"11. Let one or more justices be elected in each town as 
conservators of the peace, with power to issue warrants, and 
hold criminals to trial, &c." 

The convention, — after providing that the legislature 
at their next session should appoint commissioners to 
form into a code, so far as such commissioners should 
deem practicable, the laws of this state — after, on the 
niotion of Mr. Chatfield, adopting a clause directing that 
the same legislature should appoint commissioners to 
simplify the practice of the law in all our courts — after 
making provisions for the organization of courts of con- 
ciliation in pursuance of a resolution introduced by Mr. 
Kirkland, which was supported and earnestly urged by 
Mr. Stephens, the celebrated traveller, and by Mr. Bas- 
cpm — after adopting the plan of county courts intro- 
duced by Mr. Crooker — and after establishing, on the 
motion of Mr. Strong, of Monroe, a liberal rule for the 
admission of attorneys and counsellors to practice in all 
our courts, — on the 10th day of September adopted sub- 
stantially the judiciary system recommended by the se- 
lect committee, to whom that great and vitally important 
subject had been referred ; a result highly creditable to 
that able and learned committee, and which, we trust, 



1840.] MR. uoffman's report. 641 

will prove greatly beneficial to the people of the state 
of New York, and their posterity. 

Mr. Hoffman, as chairman of committee No. 3, on 
canals, the public revenue, and the public debt, had, in 
the month of July, reported, first, " on the existing debts 
and liabilities of the state, and to provide for the pay- 
ment thereof," substantially as follows : 

1. The sum of 81,500,000 to be annually applied to 
the interest and principal of the canal debt until that 
debt was paid. 

2. The sum of $072,500 to be paid yearly into the 
treasury for the use of the state. 

3. The surplus revenue arising from the canals, after 
paying the expenses of the canals, and the two sums last 
mentioned, until such surplus shall amount to $2,500,000, 
to be applied to the improvement of the Erie Canal in 
such manner as should be directed by law. 

4. $500,000, parcel of the sum of 8672,500, to consti- 
tute a sinking fund to pay the principal and interest of 
the general fund debt, including debts for loans of the 
state credit to railroad companies, &c., leaving the sum 
of 8172,500 to be applied to the payment of the annua! 
current expenses of the government. 

5. If the sinking funds, or either of them, should be- 
come insufficient to meet the demands of the creditors 
of the state, the legislature should by taxes so increase 
the revenue of said funds as to make them respectively 
sufficient perfectly to preserve the public faith. 

On the subject of the power of the legislature to cre- 
ate future state debts and liabilities, Mr. Hoffman re- 
ported — 

1. No money shall ever be paid out of the treasury 
except in pursuance of a law specifically appropri- 

54* 



642 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846- 

ating the same, and designating the object to which it 
is to be applied. 

2. The credit of the state shall never be loaned. 

3. The state may borrow, to meet contingencies, 
moneys, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one 
million dollars, and the moneys so borrowed shall be 
applied to the purposes for which they were obtained, 
and no other. 

4. This restriction not to apply to money which it 
may be necessary to raise to repel invasion or suppress 
insurrection. 

5. Except the debts specified in the third and fourth 
sections of this article, no debt shall be created without 
at the same time laying a direct annual tax, sufficient to 
pay the interest and redeem the principal in eighteen 
years ; but no such law shall take effect until it shall, at 
a general election, have been submitted to the people, 
and have received a majority of the voles cast at such 
election. 

Afterwards Gov. Bouck proposed a substitute for Mr. 
Hoffman's scheme, and subsequently Mr. Ayrault pre- 
sented a third project. These projects differed materi- 
ally from that of Mr. Hoffman. They will be more 
particularly noticed hereafter. 

As soon as the report of the judiciary committee was 
disposed of, on the 11th of September, the conven- 
tion went into committee of the whole on the great 
questions involved in the report of the finance committee. 

Mr. Hoffman opened the debate. He first referred 
to the whole amount for which the state was indebted, 
and the items of which it was composed. He said — 

"The debt in 1842 would be found to be as follows: — 
|21, 179,019 81 for the canals; tlie railroad debt was theu 



1846] SPEECH UF MU. HOFFMAN. 643 

considered as contiiigent — but it never was so in regard to us. 
We were always bound to pay the whole amount. The only 
contingency was, whether the railroad companies would refund 
to the state. He was considered a panic-maker in 1841, be- 
cause he considered this as a debt. This contingent debt was 
now $1,713,000. The treasury debt, which was less than 
$2,000,000 in 1842, was now swelled up to more than tive 
millions and a half. This made the whole debt, in 1842, 
128,287,000. This debt, in consideration of the fact that we 
were a young and growing country, was a British debt in 
amount, in interest, and in its threatened results — the wither- 
ing and blasting of all species of industry. He brought no 
complaint against the men who created this debt. Let others 
indulge in as much vituperation as they see fit. He should 
not interfere, uor attempt any apology for them. What, then, 
was this debt at the meeting of this convention ? He quoted 
several documents to show that the canal debt stood thus : — 
Principal, S17,.t1G,119 57 ; interest, which mu.st be paid be- 
fore its extinguishment, §8,379,838 33 — making a total to be 
paid by the stat^, of $25,895,957 90. Insolvent railroads, 
principal, $3,515,700 ; interest, (as above,) $2,933,165 37 — 
total, $6,448,865 37. General fund debt, $2,309,849 24 ; 
interest, (as above,) $870,296 87— total, $3,240,142 11. Sol- 
vent railroads, principal, $1,713,000; interest, (as above,) 
$1,001,707 50 — total, $2,714,707 50. This would make a 
total, which the state must pay, of $38,299,672 88." 

Mr. H. next considered the means of the state of pay- 
ing the interest and extinguishing the principal of this 
debt. Mr. Hoffman regarded the canal tolls as the prin- 
cipal source of revenue. " They were large, and would 
increase. They would doubtless reach a culminating 
point, and then decline." The salt duties he estimated 
at a mere trifle. " For the state of New York to hold 
on to the miserable pittance, looked like the veriest evi- 
dence of insolvency." He considered the salt tax as at an 
end. " The auction tax was equally unjust and unwise." 



644 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

* * * " He thouirht both the auction and salt duties 
would soon go to the tomb of the Capulets. He be- 
lieved they were fast going the way of all the earth, and 
it mi(Tht be thought unkind for him to hit them this kick 
to help them on their downward course."* The only 
sources of revenue, then, were canal tolls on the one 
hand, and direct taxation on the other. He deprecated 
too great reliance on the revenue anticipated from tolls. 
The Welland Canal, and the contemplated eastern and 
southern railroads, would compete powerfully with our 
canals. Mr. Hoffman finally arrived at the conclusion, 
that the adoption of his system was absolutely necessa- 
ry in order to preserve the credit of the state, and ulti- 
mately extinguish its debt. 

The speech of Mr. Hoffman was unquestionably able, 
but whoever reads it will perceive a strong inclination 
in the speaker to present but one side of the question, 
and to magnify the liabilities, and depreciate the means 
and resources of the state. Thus, in stating the debt of 
the state, in order to make it amount to upwards of 38 
millions, he includes $12,183,260 57 of interest, to accrue 
hereafter, and also 81,713,000, being the principal of 
loans of the credit of the state to railroad companies, 
which he admits to he solvent — to which he adds, 
$1,001,707 50 of interest to accrue hereafter, making 
$2,714,707 50, which, to say the least, according to his 
own admission, is a mere nominal debt. Add this last 



* From a statement made by the comptroller to the convention, it ap- 
peared that the salt duties paid into the canal fund amount- 
ed to $2,055,458 06 

Auction duties 3,592,039 05 

$5,647,497 11 



184G.] STATE DEBT. G A5 

sum to the interest which will he due on the other state 
debts, unless the principal is paid sooner than Mr. II. an- 
ticipates, and the amount to be deducted from Mr. H. s 
state debt of 838,299,672 88, will be 814,897,997 07, 
leaving the present debt, according to Mr. Hoffman's 
estimate, at 823,401,075 81. The view which he pre- 
sents of the probable future income from the canals, and 
from the salt and auction duties, is extremely restricted 
as to the amount, and less than what will probably be 
realized in almost any conceivable stale of things which 
can hereafter occur. Mr. Hoffman ever since, and in- 
deed before the year 1842, had thought much on this 
subject. The system now recommended by him was 
that shadowed forth by the act of 1842, which we have 
seen was in a great degree the child of his own mind, 
which he had powerfully aided to bring into existence, 
and which he had nurtured with great care and paren- 
tal affection. Is it wonderful, strictly honest and great- 
ly talented as all men admit that he is, that his zeal 
should have been great, not to say overmuch, to give 
immortality to this favorite offspring? Is it surprising, 
that in supporting his positions, that zeal should insensi- 
bly have induced him to exhibit more of the acuteness 
and skill of the ingenious lawyer, and less of the liberal 
views of the enlightened and far-seeing statesman ? 

Mr. Archer, from Wayne, a member who heretofore 
had taken little share in the debates, first replied to Mr. 
Hoffman, and, after modestly stating that he should not 
" attempt to cope with the Ajax Telamon" who had ad- 
dressed the house, he urged, among other arguments, 
that the state had invested thirty-one millions in canals, 
nearly one-third of which was now wholly unproduc- 
tive, and must remain so forever, unless the Erie Canal 



646 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

should be widened, and the Genesee Valley and Black 
River canals completed. And he mquired whether it 
was wise ta sacrifice all the moneys which had been ex- 
pended in enlarging the Erie, and in constructing the 
Genesee Valley and Black River canals ? 

Mr. Angel, from Allegany, delivered a long and able 
argument on the same side of the question. He stated 
the real debt of the state to be, according to the comp- 
troller's report, $22,254,083 78. He presented a rapid 
but very encouraging view of the finances of the state ; 
he insisted that the state was abundantly able to com- 
plete its })ublic works ; that the sooner that completion 
was accomplished, the better it would be for the state 
and for the people ; and he presented, in bold relief, the 
claims of the southwestern counties to have the Genesee 
Valley Canal speedily constructed and put in operation. 

In reply to Mr. Hoffman's remarks in relation to the 
ability of the state, Mr. Angel said : 

"My friend from Herkimer lias been many long years 
brooding over the dark side of this picture ; he has been em- 
ployed in calculating and compounding interest, and footing 
up millions ; he has wandered so long among the mysteries of 
the comptroller's reports, that he has lost his balance, frightened 
himself, and now comes here to frighten others. Every thing 
appears dark and sombre to him. Sir," continued Mr. Angel, 
" I desire to invite the attention of the house to that side of the 
picture which the gentleman from Herkimer has kept out of 
view." 

The fifth section, reported by the finance committee, 
provided that the claims of the state against incorpora- 
ted companies should be enforced, and not be deferred, 
released, or compromised. Mr. Jordan moved to amend 
this section, by striking out the words " not deferred, re- 
leased, or compromised ;" and on this motion consider- 



1846.] DEBATE ON hoffman's eeport. 647 

able discussion took place. In defence of the section, 
Mr. Hoffman said — 

" When the enemies of the section proposed to amend, it 
was time to look after it. These corporations and corporate 
property seemed to have been held as something sacred. The 
artificial man that the legishiture made had been constantly 
regarded and treated on a different principle from the natural 
man that God made. He had hoped that we had got over 
this partiality for the creature." 

The motion to amend, however, failed in the commit- 
tee of the whole, as did also a motion by Mr. Marvin, to 
strike out the whole section. 

On the next day (the 16th) Mr. Worden made a very 
eloquent and powerful speech against the restrictions 
contained in Mr. Hoffman's report ; in the course of 
which he asserted, that the trade which was based on 
the transportation on the canal, had, within twenty 
years, increased 600 per cent. ! And he alleged, that he 
had proved that the increase would be as great for 
twenty years to come. Our limits will not permit us to 
give even a skeleton of this argument. 

Mr. Marvin, in reply to the allegation of Mr. Hoff- 
man, that the income arising from the canals would in- 
crease until it arrived at its culminating point, and then 
would decline, said : 

" He believed the result would be very dififerent. If it were 
not that he was not now disposed to detain the committee, he 
could demonstrate it. The topography of the whole globe 
presented no spot which could compare with the state of New 
York in the advantage of position. There was no portion of 
the United States where the great West could be successfully 
connected by water communication with the Atlantic, except 
where the Erie Canal passed the Allegany range of moun- 
tains, without going as far south as Georgia. He proceeded 



648 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

to describe the country which must seek a market bj- means 
of the Erie Canal, embracing several of tlie western states, and 
m-cred the enlargement of the canal as the natural avenue of 
the commerce of those states." 

Mr. Stow moved to amend the first section, so that it 
should read as follows : 

" § 1. After paying the expenses of collection, superintend- 
ence, and ordinarv repairs, 11,500.000 of the revenues of the 
state canals shall, in each fiscal year, and at that rate for a 
shorter peiiod, commencing on the 1st day of June, 1846, be 
set apart as a sinking fund, to pay the interest and redeem the 
principal [of the state debt until the 1st day of July, 1856 ; 
after which, $2,000,000 of said revenues shall continue to 
be applied or set apart annually] until the same shall be 
whollv paid ; and the principal and income of the said sinking 
fund shall be sacredly applied to that purpose." 

The matter proposed to be inserted is in brackets, and 
takes place of the words " of that part of the state debt 
called the canal debt, as it existed at the time aforesaid, 
and .including 8300,000 then to be borrowed." 

This motion Mr. Stow supported by a very ingenious 
and able argument, which evidently produced great 
effect upon the convention. 

Discussions on the report of the finance committee 
continued to occupy the time of the convention for sev- 
eral days ; and Mr. Loomis, Gov. Bouck, and Mr. Wor- 
den respectively, proposed amendments, tending to alter 
materially the plan as first reported by the select com- 
mittee. The committee of the whole seem not to have 
arrived at any specific conclusion on the various pro- 
jects submitted for their consideration, and on the 19lh 
day of September they rose, and, in pursuance of a pre- 
vious order, reported the first article as originally re- 
ported bv the standing committee to the convention, 



1846.] MR. LOOMIs's SUBSTITUTE. 019 

"and progress on the other, asking leave to sit again 
thereon." Whereupon Mr. Chatfield moved to dis- 
charge the committee of the whole from the second re- 
port, and the convention sustained his motion by a vote 
of 49 to 40. The whole subject was now, therefore, be- 
fore the convention. 

Mr. Loomis offered a substitute for Mr. Hoffman's 
first proposition, to the effect that $1,300,000, instead of 
a million and a half, from the net proceeds of the canal 
tolls, should be set apart to pay the canal debt until the 
year 1855, and after that time, the sum of $1,700,000 
should be applied in the same way until the debt was 
paid. Gov. Bouck, who had offered a similar proposi- 
tion, except that he proposed that the sinking fund should 
be 8100,000 less than Mr. Loomis, in a spirit of com- 
promise, and with a view, as he said, to produce more 
harmony, withdrew his amendment.* 

Mr. Ayrauit, from Livingston county, made a very 
brief but able speech in opposition to Mr, Loomis's sub- 
stitute, in which he insisted that provision ought to be 
made for finishing the Genesee Valley and Black River 
canals, as well as for providing for the completion of the 
enlargement of the Erie Canal. He presented his plan, 
which would extinguish a debt of $22,300,000 in twenty- 
three jear-s, or a debt of 825,000,000 in twenty-eight 
years. All agreed that a period ought to be fixed for 
the final extinction of the public debt ; but some desired 



* Without any positive kno\vled<je on the subject, we infer that Mr. 
Hoffman had ascertained that his plan, in all its details, would not com- 
mand the support of the majority of the convention, and that his friend 
and colleaojne, Mr. Loomis, with the approbation and request of Mr. H., 
proposed his substitute as less stringent than Mr. Hoffman's scheme, and 
therefore more likely to succeed. 



650 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

to fix on a shorter, and others a longer time, for the ac- 
comphshment of that object. The question, therefore, 
resolved itself into one of time, and whether the surplus 
revenue should be applied to the finishing of the Black 
River and Genesee Valley canals, as weW as to impro- 
ving the Erie Canal. 

The first section of Mr. Loomis's substitute vv^as 
carried, 87 to 26. 

The second section of the substitute provided that 
.$350,000, instead of #672,500, from the surplus revenue, 
should annually be paid into the treasury, until the 
canal debt should be paid, and then the sum of $1,500,000 
should be paid yearly, from such revenue, until the gen- 
eral fund debt and other liabilities of the state should be 
discharged. This section was also adopted by the 
strong vote of 89 to 22. 

The next question was on the following section of 
Mr. Loomis's substitute — 

" § 3. The surplus revenues of the canals, after complying 
with the provisions of the two last preceding sections, shall be 
appropiiated, at the discretion of the legislature, to defray the 
ordinary expenses of government, and for other purposes ; 
but no law shall be passed appropriating or pledging for the 
construction or improvement of any canal or railroad, any part 
of sucli revenues, beyond those of the year cm-rent, at the time 
of passing such law." 

Mr. Bouck offered the following substitute for the 
proposition of Mr. Loomis — 

"The sum of $1*72,000 shall be annually applied to pay 
any deficit which may occur in fixing the revenue of the gen- 
eral fund to meet the expenses of the government ; the re- 
mainder of the canal revenue shall be appropriated to tlie 
enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the completion of the 
Genesee Valley and Black River canals, until the same are 



1846.] MR. Russell's amendment. 651 

completed. After the payment of the pubhc debt, $G72,000 
shall be annually appropriated from the canal revenues to the 
general fund, to meet the expenses of the government." 

Several amendments to Mr. Bouck's substitute were 
proposed and lost, but when the question on the substi- 
tute was taken, it was lost, there being 54 for and 60 
against it. A vote was then taken, bv the aid of the 
previous question, on the third section of Mr. Loomis's 
substitute, and it was rejected by a majority of 8 votes. 

In the evening session of the same day, Mr. Russell 
offered a resolution of instruction to the committee on 
finance, as follows — 

" Resolved, That the committee on finance be instructed to 
report forthwith the following as section 3d of the first article 
reported by the committee — 

"§ 3. After complying with the provisions of the two last 
preceding sections, the surplus revenues of the canals, until 
the 1st of June, 1856, shall be appropriated as follows : The 
sum of $200,000 annually, to defray the ordinary expenses of 
government, and the remainder to the improvement or com- 
pletion of the canals, and after the time mentioned in this 
section, to such purposes as the legislature may direct." 

Mr. Murphy moved the previous question. 
Mr. White desired to move an amendment. 
Mr. Murphy withdrew his motion. 
Mr. White offered his amendment as follows, and re- 
newed the motion for the previous question — 

" After paying the said expenses of superintendence and re- 
pairs of the said canals, and the sums appropriated by the 
1st and 2d sections of this article, there shall be paid out of 
the surplus revenues of the canals to the treasury of the 
state, on or before the 30th of September in each year, for 
the use and benefit of the general fund, such sum, not exceed- 
ing $200,000, as may be required to defray the necessary ex- 



652 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84o. 

penses of the state ; and the remainder of the revenues of the 
said canals shall, in each fiscal year, be appropriated, in such 
manner as the legislature shall direct, to the completion of the 
Erie Canal enlargement, and the Genesee Valley and Black 
River canals, until the said canals and improvements shall be 
completed." 

Various unsuccessful attempts to alter and modify 
these propositions were made, but the resolution of Mr. 
Russell as amended by Mr. White was finally adopted, 
64 to 52. 

The remaining sections of the first article reported by 
the finance committee were then agreed to by the 
convention, without material alteration, with great 
unanimity. 

The convention then proceeded to action on the 
second article reported by the finance committee. 

The first section was adopted without alteration ; and 
the second section, which prohibited the state from loan- 
ing its credit to individuals or corporations, was agreed 
to unanimously. 

The third section limited the state, in the creation of 
debts, to 81,000,000, which was only to be tolerated in 
cases of failure of revenue, or for expenses not provided 
for; and the loans thus made "'ere to be applied to the 
purposes for which they were made, and none other. 
This was adopted by the convention without a division. 

The fourth section authorized the state to contract 
debts to repel invasion, &c., which was also agreed to 
without opposition. 

The fifth section declared that no debts, except such 
as were provided for in the third and fourth sections, 
should be created, without at the same time laying a 
direct tax, sufficient to pay the interest and principal 



1846.] MR. chatfield's section. 653 

thereof in eighteen years, and for a single object, which 
object should be specified in the act which authorized 
the contraction of such debt. Such law not to be of 
any binding force until it should be submitted to the 
people, and be approved by a majority of the voters at 
a general election. After the approval of the law by 
the people, the legislature might, at any time before the 
debt was incurred, forbid the contracting of any further 
debt, but the tax imposed by such law should remain 
unrepealabie until the debts contracted under it should 
be paid. Only one law of this description should be 
submitted to the people at the same election. 

A vigorous opposition was made to this section. Mr. 
Worden and Mr. Simmons spoke with much warmth 
against it, but it was carried by a vote of 70 to 36, and 
this important section has become a part of our consti- 
tution. 

The 6th section was next read as follows — 

" § 6. Every law which imposes, continues, or revives a tax, 
shall distinctly state the tax and the object to which it is to 
be applied, and it shall not be sufficient to refer to any other 
law to lix such tax or object." 

Mr. Chatfield offered an additional section, providing 
that no direct tax should be levied as long as the rev- 
enue of the state should be sufficient to meet the de- 
mands of the several sinking funds, and pay the debts, 
as provided for in the preceding article, and the ex- 
penses of the state government. Mr. C. said he had 
drawn up this because he did not think it was the policy 
of this state for the next twenty or thirty years, to im- 
pose direct taxes, especially when the revenues of the 
state would be sufficient for every purpose. He quoted 

55* 



654 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

from the comptroller's report to show what the con- 
templated revenues and expenditures would be. 

Mr. White and Mr. W. Taylor severally offered 
amendments to Mr. Chatfield's amendment, which, a.s 
well as Mr. Chatfield's amendment, were all negatived. 

Mr. St. John proposed the following additional sec- 
tion to the report of the finance committee — 

" g — . The provision contained in section 3 of the next 
preceding article, for the disposition of the canal revenues, 
shall continue in force until the first day of January, 1850, 
and after tliat time the whole of the ordinary expenses of the 
state government, except such portions thereof as shall be 
provided for by other means than by a direct tax, shall be 
paid from the said canal revenues; and no diiect tax shall 
thereafter be levied upon the people of this state, to pay the 
wliole or any portion of such expense, unless there shall be a 
deficiency in the said canal revenues to pay the same, after 
complying with the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of the said 
article." 

Mr. Russell moved to substitute the section laid on 
the table by Mr. W. Taylor, as follows — 

" § — . If at any time after the period of five years from 
the adoption of this constitution, tlie revenues of the state un- 
appropriated by the last preceding article, shall not be suf- 
ficient to defray the necessary expenses of the government, 
without continuing or laying a direct tax, the legislature may, 
at its discretion, supply the deficiency, in whole or in part, 
from the surplus revenues of the canals, after complying with 
the provisions of the first two sections of the last preceding 
article, for paying the interest and extinguishing tlie principal 
of the canal and general fund debt ; but tlie sum tluis appro- 
priated from the surplus revenues of the canals shall not ex- 
ceed annually $350,000, including the sum of $200,000 pro- 
vided by the 3d section of the last preceding article, for the 
expenses of the government, until the general fund debt shall 



184G.] MR. Hoffman's closing remarks. 655 

be extinguished, or until tlie Erie Canal enlargement and 
Genesee Valley and Black River canals shall be completed ; 
and after that debt sliall be paid, or the said canals shall be 
completed, then the sum of §672,500, or so much thereof as 
shall be necessary, may be annually appropriated to defray 
the expenses of government." 

The substitute of Mr. Taylor was opposed, as wrong in 
itself, and as inconsistent with principles already settled 
by the convention. A debate which produced consider- 
able excitement ensued, but the substitute of Mr. Tay- 
lor, as proposed by Mr. Russell, was adopted, ayes 76, 
noes 34 ; and finally the section as ainended was carried, 
by a vote of 58 to 50. We perceive Mr. St. John, a 
very clear-headed and judicious member, voted both 
against the substitute and the section as modified by it. 

The seventh section of the second article reported by 
the finance committee, which requires three-fifths of all 
the members elected to the legislature, to constitute a 
quorum, in order to pass any law which continues or 
revives a tax, or makes any appropriation, discharges 
any debt, &c., was agreed to unanimously. 

The article having been finished, and the debates on 
it terminated, Mr. HolTman rose and said — 

"The convention, after a labored effort, had got through with 
these two articles. Taken together, they would preserve your 
faith — they would pay your debt. They might not be entire- 
ly satisfactory to any one member, but they would produce 
this result. They w'ould do more. They would set an exam- 
ple, if the convention would adhere to it, that would cause 
every state in this Union, as soon as it should be in the power 
of such states to do so, to provide for and sponge out its debts 
by payment, thus removing from representative government 
the reproaches cast on it on the other side of the water. To 
this extent had this convention come, and if its labors should 



650 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

be repudiated by tbe state, nothing could lieep down the judg- 
ment you liad pronounced on this impoitant subject. It 
would live. It would go down with time itself, until time 
should mingle with eternity. He predicted that our labors 
had overcome the greatest disgrace ever attempted to be cast 
on free institutions. And if you would go on, and fix the in- 
dividual liability of the banker, compel corporations to be form- 
ed under general law^s, and guard the power of municipal cor- 
porations to make debts, you would have achieved what Avould 
biing you that which you had not had for a quarter of a cen- 
tury — a legislature in these halls. He moved that this article 
be laid aside and printed." 

This eloquent peroration of Mr. Hoffman was follow- 
ed by some appropriate and judicious remarks of Mr. 
Worden, which concluded the labors of the convention 
on this great and vitally important question. 

The convention then, without going into committee 
of the whole, proceeded to consider and decide on the 
reports of the committee on currency and banking, on 
corporations other than banking and municipal corpora- 
tions, on local officers, on rights and privileges, on edu- 
cation and common schools, on future amendments to 
the constitution, and on the creation and division of es- 
tates in lands. 

To give even a skeleton of the discussions on these 
various subjects would greatly exceed the limits pre- 
scribed to this work. We must, therefore, confine our- 
selves to a mere allusion to some of the most prominent 
questions which occupied the attention of the conven- 
tion, remarking in passing, that on the 28th of Septem- 
ber, Mr. Stow, a talented and efficient member from 
Erie, who, we believe, had not before been a member of 
any legislative assembly, but whose father was long a 
distinguished member of congress from the county of 



184G.] ELECTIVE FPtANCmSE. 657 

Lewis, offered for the consideration of the convention 
tiie following sections to be added to the fourth ar- 
ticle : — 

" g — . An elector owning a freehold, or having an unexpired 
term of not less than twenty-one years in a leasehold, (now 
existing,) may, by an instrument executed by him, decl;ire that 
he intends to exempt from incumbrances for debt the property 
described in such instrument — the value of such property 
shall not be less than one thousand dollars. 

" S — . The value of the property mentioned in the last sec- 
tion shall be ascertained by the assessors of the town or ward 
in which it shall be situated ; who shall make a certificate of 
their appraisal. Such instrument and such certificate shall be 
acknowledged, or proved in the manner entitling a deed to be 
recorded, and shall be recorded in the clerk's office of the 
county in which the property is situated ; and notice of such 
record shall be published in such manner and for such time as 
shall be presciibed by law, after such record ; and after notice 
thereof shall have been duly published, such property shall 
not be incumbered by, or for, any debt created or contracted 
by such elector. This privilege shall not enable an elector to 
hold more than one piece of property thus exempt at the 
same time ; and such exemption shall cease whenever he shall 
cease to be a resident of this state." 

This proposition does not seem to have excited much 
attention in the convention ; but we hope we shall be 
pardoned if we predict that it will hereafter constitute 
a grave and important subject of legislation. 

On the subject of the currency and banking, we can 
only refer the reader to an elaborate, learned, and able 
speech, delivered by Mr. Cambreling, which will be 
found reported at large in the reports of the debates in 
the convention by S. Croswell & Sutton, commencing 
at page 755. 

On the subject of the elective franchise, the first section 



658 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

reported by the select committee was in the following 
words : — 

"§ 1. Every white male citizen of the age of twenty-one 
years, who shall have been a citizen for sixty days, and an in- 
habitant of this state one year next preceding any election, 
and for the last six months a resident of the county where he 
may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election, in 
the election district of which he shall have been an actual 
resident during the last preceding sixty days, and not else- 
where, for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elec- 
tive by the people." 

Mr. Bruce, of Madison county, moved 'to strike out 
from the first line the word " white." This motion put 
in issue the great question whether colored citizens 
should be placed on an equality with the whites, as re- 
spects the right of suffrage. Messrs. Burr, Bruce, Strong, 
A. W. Young, Rhoades, Waterbury, Simmons, and 
others supported the amendment, which was opposed by 
Messrs. W. Taylor, Russell, Kennedy, Stow, Perkins, 
and others. We cannot give even a sketch of the ar- 
guments on this question. 

During the progress of the discussion Mr. Kirkland 
offered a proposition, which he said he believed would 
enable the convention to decide upon this question with 
a great deal of unanimity. There were few gentlemen, 
he believed, who desired to deprive the colored popula- 
tion of their natural rights, while there were many who 
doubted the propriety of at once admitting them to 
share with white citizens the benefits of the elective 
franchise. His proposition was, to save to the colored 
people the same privileges which they now possess, and 
also to submit to the people the question of allowing them 
to enjoy the elective franchise. He said he would pre- 
sent his plan in form in due season. 



184G.] EUUAL SUFFRAGE. G59 

This amendment or substitute, it will be perceived, in- 
volved the questions whether «// colored men should not 
be excluded from the right of suffrage, and whether the 
electors of the state should not be permitted to decide 
by their votes whether the colored citizens should not 
possess an equal right of suffrage with the whites. 
Those who voted against it, therefore, not only declared 
them^-elves aijainst submittincr the decision of the latter 
question to the people, but in favor of excluding a col- 
ored man, whatever might be his wealth or moral worth, 
from the privilege of vesting, because he was not a white 
man. 

The following are the ayes and noes on Mr. Kirk- 
land's amendment : — 

Ayes — Messrs. Allen, Archer, Ayniult, F. F. Backus, H. 
Backus, Baker, Bascora, Bergen, Bowdish, Bruce, Bull, Burr, 
R. Campbell, Candee, Cook, Crocker, Dana, Dodd, Graham, 
Greene, Harrison, Hart, Havvley, Hoffman, Hotchkiss, E. Hun- 
tington, Hutchinson, Kemble, Kernan, Kingsley, Kirkland, Mar- 
vin, Maxwell, Miller, Munro, Nellis, Nicholas, Parish, Patter- 
son, Pcnniman, Porter, lihoades, Richmond, Ruggles, St. 
John, Shaver, Simmons, E. Spencer, W. H. Spencer, Stanton, 
Stow, Strong, Taggart, Tallmadge, Tuthill, Waid, Warren, 
Waterbury, Worden, A. Wright, W. B. Wright, Young — 63. 

Noes — Messrs. Brown, Brundage, Clark, Conely, Cornell, 
Cuddeback, Danforth, Dorlon, Dubois, Hunt, A. Huntington, 
Jones, Kennedy, Mann, McNiel, Morris, NicoU, O'Conor, Per- 
kins, President, Riker, Russell, Sandford, Sheldon, Stephens, 
Swackhamer, J. J. Taylor, Tilden, Townsend, Wood, Yawger, 
Youngs — 32. 

I^is painful to perceive, among the names of those 
who voted in the negative, that of the talented, enlarged, 
and liberal-minded Brown, of Orange, as well as that 
of the eloquent, amiable, and benevolent O'Conor, of 



660 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

New York, both of whom, we beUeve, are natives of a 
foreign country. 

"We wish we could present the arguments on this 
question, even in an abbreviated form, as some views 
were exhibited, which, if not interesting, at least were 
curious. Mr. Perkins, for instance, a native of New 
England, and a democrat, attempted to prove from the 
Bible that the negroes were an inferior race, " marked' 
as such by the Almighty Creator, and therefore that they 
ought not to enjoy the right of suffrage.* 

It would seem that Mr. Perkins was very partial to 
this view of the question and this train of reasoning, as 
leading to a satisfactory conclusion in respect to the 
propriety of extending the elective franchise to the black 
man ; for a few days afterwards, in settling the question 
as to the time of residence of white voters in the town 
or ward where they gave their vote, Mr. Perkins, who 
contended for the shortest period, reproached those who 
desired to fix a longer term of residence of " white vo- 
ters" than he thought necessary, with having lately 
manifested an anxiety ~' to let in a class of colored per- 
sons, whose degradation and vices decreased their num- 
bers annually." 

" It was," he said, '• the destiny of the race to occupy an 
inferior social position to the white. It was the latent decree 
of the Almighty, and nothing could change it. Mr. P. laid it 
down as the economy of Providence, that there should be sep- 
arate races and grades of beings on the earth. He asserted 
that the great offence which brought the flood on the earth 
was the intercourse between the sons of God and the daugh- 
ters of men — the intercourse of one race with another that 
God had separated. When they commingled, he separated 

* See his speech, C. & S. Debates, p. 789. 



1846.] MR. Clyde's resolutions. 661 

them jigaiii. A century after the dispersion at Babel, profane 
history showed that this black race existed, with all the char- 
acteristics that now marked them. That climate should have 
done this was impossible. This mark was put on them as a 
warnintr that other nations should not comminorle with them." 
Mr. Perkins went on to say that " subsequently, when the 
Jews intermingled with other nations, it was called whoredom, 
and was denounced by God. You could not admit tlie blacks 
to a parlicipaiion in the government of the country, unless you 
put them on terms of social equality with us, and that could 
only be done by degrading our own race to a level with them." 

This reasoning of Mr. Perkins was ridiculed with 
some severity by Messrs. Simmons, Dana, Crooker, Pat- 
terson, and even by Mr. Stow, who had made a very 
able, candid, and ingenious argument against admitting 
colored persons to an equal right of suffrage.* 

On the 1st of October, Mr. Clyde offered the follow- 
ing resolutions : 

" Resolved, That the select committee, to whom is referred 
the revision of the several articles adopted by the convention, 
be instructed to report the following as an additional aiticle : 

" § 1 . All feudal tenures of every description, with all their 
incidents, are abolished. 

" § 2. No lease or grant of agricultural land for a longer 
period tiian ten years hereafter made, in which shall be re- 
served any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid. 

" § 3. All covenants or conditions in any grant of land 
whereby the right of the grantee to ahen is in any manner 
restrained, and all fines, quarter sales, and other charges upon 
alienation reserved, in every grant of land hereafter to be made, 
shall be void." 

Messrs. Jordan and Clyde, the former a whig and the 
latter a democrat, were the nominees of the anti-rent 



* See Debates in the Convention by C. & S., p. 787. 

56 



662 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846 

party in the county of Columbia. On tiie 3d of Octo- 
ber, Mr. Clyde delivered a speech in support of the prin- 
ciples contained in these resolutions. In that speech 
Mr. Clyde gives, as we presume, a summary of the views 
and doctrines maintained by the sober and well-informed 
portion of the anti-rent party. We shall therefore pre- 
sent the reader with an abbreviation of it, though the 
brevity to which we are restricted will by no means do 
justice to the speaker, who cettainly acquitted himself in 
a manner highly creditable. 

Mr. Clyde, after adverting to the fact that he was a 
resident of one of the counties which had manifested a 
lively i^nterest in the fate of the proposition now before 
the convention, and which had been deeply convulsed, 
and severely taxed by consequences growing out of the 
system which that proposition was intended to remove, 
said — 

" I am fully aware that at the mention of grievances en- 
dured by the manorial tenants, or rather of the whole com- 
munity in which they are located, a sneer of incredulity and 
scorn naturally exliibits itself on many faces. ' What !' asks 
an opponent, ' do you pretend here to raaintiiin that this ten- 
antry is really aggrieved and wronged ?' Yes, sir, that is my 
position. ' But have they not agreed to pay the rents de- 
manded of them ?' Yes, sir ; and so do the victims of usury 
agree to pay the exorbitant interest exacted of them — which 
the state and the law say they shall not pay ; so did some of 
the tenantry on the great feudal estates of France agree that 
the chastity of their daughters should be among the 'first 
fruits reserved to the use of the lord of the soil. 

"The question here, however, is not what a class of poor 
and ignorant men of bygone generations agreed to do, but 
what the men of the pi-esent day ought to do — what the state 
should compel them in future to do. I maintain that most of 
the rights so called, of the landlords of these manors, origina- 



1846.] SPEECH OF MR. CLYDE. 663 

ted in power and craft, if not by fraud, on the one side, and 
ignorance and simplicity on the other, and that they have now 
no such rif^htful existence as should entitfe their holders to 
overrule the just and true policy of the state." 

Mr. Clyde then proceeded to point out the evils which 
perpetuating this system of tenancy in a republican gov- 
ernment necessarily produced. The first was, " two 
radically different classes in society :" a numerous class 
subsisting meagerly on a part of the proceeds of their 
own labor, and a smaller and superior class living idly 
and sumptuously on the proceeds of the toil of others. 

"This, sir," said Mr. C, " is no casual difference of circum- 
stances that we are now considering, but a fixed and enduring 
disparity of condition, which several generations have expe- 
rienced. Who does not see that its direct tendency is to cre- 
ate and perpetuate class distinctions and class interests, incom- 
patible with the pure and high spirit of republican freedom ? 
And yet this system, blighting as it is to the interests of in- 
dinduals and community, is sanctioned, and either loudly or 
secretly praised, by some who boast long and loud of their 
democracy ! 

" Sir, read one of these manor leases, and note how skil- 
fully, cunningly devised, appears every requisition to make the 
tenant class directly and sensibly the inferiors — mere serfs and 
vassals, hewers of wood and drawers of water. The restric- 
tions on the right of alienation — the reservations of wood, wa- 
ter, minerals, mill-streams, and privileges — the quarter-sale, 
the two fat fowls, and day's labor drawing manure — the cove- 
nants requiring the tenant to go to the landlord's mill on pain 
of forfeiting his whole estate — also to trade at his landlord's 
store on pain of forfeiting his whole estate — and the thousand 
and one other little, mean, degrading covenants, a violation of 
any one of which by the tenant, works a forfeiture of the whole 
c-^tate." 

Mr. Clyde insisted that contracts of this kind, and the 
holding estates subject to such conditions, were incon- 



664 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

sistent with the genius of our government, and that the 
true pohcy was to discountenance them. The section 
he proposed as a part of our constitutional law, was in 
accordance with that policy. Mr. Clyde then rapidly 
glanced at the distressed condition of the tenantry of 
England, which he painted in vivid colors. 

" And who," said he, " shall say that the spectacle now af- 
forded by Great Britain conveys no admonition to us?" * * * 

" Sir, many of my immediate constituents, and thousands 
of others in our state, groaning under the chains forged by 
this blistering system, are looking to this convention for some 
relief They ask for nothing that is wrong — they ask you to 
^^olate no just contract — to destroy no vested rights. They 
ask you to engraft upon the constitution of your state the prop- 
osition now before us, which will prevent this curse in future, 
and will be the means of wearing out and destroying in time 
the present existing evil. Shall this down-trodden and op- 
pressed people ask in vain ? It appears to me that every man 
who loves his country, and desires the peace and prosperity 
of the state — who is a republican in principle and practice as 
well as in name, will rejoice to see the proposition before us 
adopted." * * * 

" I would not have gentlemen on this floor fall into the 
mistake of fancying the abuses I would guard against, merely 
local and temporary subjects of excitement — an excitement 
which a few more months will efface, without applying the 
proper remedy. Much, very much, growing out of the ex- 
citement of the past is to be deeply regretted and deplored, 
and none regret and deplore it more than the great mass of 
tenants ; they have never encouraged the violation of law and 
order — they have never asked or wished for any thing wrong 
or unjust — they are honest and industrious, and feel a deep 
interest in the prosperity of the state, and all they have ever 
asked or wished for is just and equal laws, and equal rights. 
I know, sir, that by some who are directly or indirectly inter- 
ested, they are charged with every thing that is wrong ; and I 



1846.] MR. Clyde's speech. 665 

also as well know, that their motives have been impugned — 
their principles have been misrepresented, and they have been 
most grossly slandered and Hbelled. But, thank Heaven, a 
brighter day begins to dawn — the wrongs of the down-trodden 
and oppressed, and the principles for wliich they contend, are 
better understood, and the enlightened and patriotic every- 
M'here sympathize with them, and are ready to come to their 
relief." 

]Mr. Clyde concluded his address in the following 
words : 

" And now, sir, after mingling, as I have done for months, 
with some of the most talented, patriotic, and independent 
men of our state, and witnessing as I have done their perseve- 
rintr and untirinsf efforts to frame a constitution worthy of them- 
selves and the people they represent, I can leturn to the quiet 
of my home with the full consciousness of having honestly and 
faithfully, according to the best of ray poor abilities, discharged 
my duty to my constituents, and can behold in the new con- 
stitution which we shall have framed the pronsions which are 
now sought to be engrafted upon it, the days of my retirement 
will be the happiest of my life, and to have contributed in an 
humble degree to the consummation of this object, as much 
honor as I shall ever desire." 

The article proposed by Mr. Clyde, with a section 
ofTt-red by Mr. Simmons, declaring the tenure of all 
estates allodial, was ultimately adopted with great una- 
nimity, and now constitutes a part of the constitution. 

On the 9th day of October the convention terminated 
its labors. On the final vote on the whole constitution, 
all the members present voted in favor of it, except 
Messrs. E. Huntington, O'Conor, W. H. Spencer, Stow, 
Tallmadge, and White. 

The following resolution, on the motion of Mr. Cam- 
breling, was passed unanimously : 

" Resolved, That the six gentlemen connected with the Al- 

56* 



666 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 

bany Argus, Albany Atlas, and iVlbany Evening Journal, as 
reporters, viz : — Sherman Croswell, Richard Sutton, Wm. G. 
Bishop, Wm. H. Attree, Wm. H. Hill, and Francis S. Rew, be 
entitled to the thanks of this convention for the industry and 
ability with which they have discharged their duty as re- 
porters for the papers to which they have been respectively 
attached." 

The closing scene of the convention was harmonious 
and highly interesting. The chair being occupied by 
Mr. Canibreling, Mr. Patterson rose and said — 

" He had a resolution to offer, w^hich he trusted would re- 
ceive the unanimous vote of the convention. It was a resolu- 
tion of thanks to our presiding officer, and which he took great 
pleasure in offering. He knew full well the arduous and deli- 
cate duties of the chair, and he could appreciate the courteous 
and impartial manner in which they had been discharged. He 
trusted the convention would adopt the resolution with a 
hearty and unanimous aye : — 

' Resolved, That the thanks of this convention be presented to the 
Hon. John Tracy, for the able, dignified, and impartial manner in which 
he has discliarged the arduous and responsibie duties of the chair ; and 
that in retiring therefrom, he carries with hirn the best wishes of every 
member of this convention.' " 

The president, on resuming the chair, responded to 
the resolution in the following words : 

" Gentlemen : — It is highly gratifying to me to receive, at 
the close of our labors, the approbation contained in the reso- 
lution you have adopted unanimously. With a grateful heart, 
I return you ray sincere thanks. 

" To form a constitution of civil government which will best 
secure the political rights and permanent welfare of a free peo- 
ple, is a work of great magnitude and importance. You have 
devoted yourselves to this momentous work, and have dis- 
charged the high trust committed to you, with great zeal and 
fidelity. I confidently hope, that the constitution now to be 
submitted to our constituents, will be ratified by them, and 



1.S4G.] ACTS OF THE CONVENTION. 667 

tluit the people of this state will realize from it the most aus- 
picious results. 

" It gives me great pleasure, gentlemen, to acknowledge my 
obligations to you for the courtesy and kindness you have at 
all times extended to me, and to assure you of my best wishes 
for your prosperity and happiness." 

Upon the close of this address, on the motion of Gen. 
Ward, the convention adjourned without day. 

Thus terminated the lahors of the convention of 1846. 
The result of those labors must long be felt, and will 
produce a radical change, as we confidently hope, for 
the better, in the political and social condition of this 
community. The alterations made by this convention 
in the organic law, are many and immensely important. 

It declared the tenure of all lands to be allodial, abol- 
ished all restraints upon alienation, and prohibited leas- 
ing lands for a longer term than twelve years. 

It abolished the banking monopoly, by taking from the 
legislature the power of granting special charters for 
banking purposes, nd of suspending specie payments. 

It look from the governor and senate and legislature, 
the prerogative of appointment to office, and gave to 
the people, acting in their sovereign capacity, the vast 
patronage which theretofore had been wielded by a cen- 
tral power. 

It new organized the judiciary, added greatly to its 
force, while it diminished the number of judicial officers, 
abolished the centralization of judicial power, and made 
all judges dependent directly on the people for their ap- 
pointment. 

It provided for and required the election of senators 
and members of the assembly by single districts. And 

It restricted, within safe and definite bounds, the power 



6G8 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

of the legislature, in creating state indebtedness without 
the sanction of a majority of the people, declared at the 
polls of our elections ; it provided sure and certain 
means for enlarging the grand canal upon the magnifi- 
cent plan heretofore projected, and in part executed, and 
for the completion of the canals already commenced ; 
and it also provided for the sure and certain payment 
and total extinction of the public debt, within a compar- 
atively short and well-defined period. 

Good and great men have doubted whether it was 
safe or prudent to commit the appointment of all judi- 
cial officers to the people. Experience alone can decide 
whether those doubts were well founded. In the mean 
time we submit to the candid of all parties, whether, if 
the thirty-six judges of our superior courts had been ap- 
pointed by any governor, or any senate, or any legisla- 
ture, no matter which party should have held the power, 
a better selection would have been made than has been 
done at the late election ? Without the least desire to 
compliment the successful candidates, we say with con- 
fidence that the response to this question would be a 
prompt and decided negative. 

It is true that many of the great men who adorned 
the convention of 1821 did not form a component part 
of the convention of 1846. James Kent, Ambrose Spen- 
cer, Daniel D. Tompkins, Rufus King, William W. Van 
Ness, Martin Van Buren, Jonas Piatt, Abraham Van 
Vechten, Samuel Young, Ezekiel Bacon, Erastus Root, 
Nathan Williams, John Duer, and Jacob Sutherland, 
were not there, but there was in this convention much 
political experience, much legal learning, and above all 
a large stock of prudence and sound common sense. 

The most remarkable characteristic of the convention 



/ 

1846.] ABSENCE OF PARTY SPIRIT. 669 

of 1846 was the entire absence, during the whole of 
their dehberations, of even the semblance of party spirit, 
especially when it is considered that they were general- 
ly chosen by political parties, and, with few exceptions, 
elected by a strict party vote ; and that, in fact, the 
greater part were really warm partisans. Here then 
was an assembly, elected in the manner which has been 
stated, composed of stanch old school federalists, drilled 
and disciplined hunkers, radical whigs, barnburners of 
the " most straitest sect," conservative whigs, and zeal- 
ous and firm anti-renters. That such an assembly 
should, for more than four months, meet daily, and la- 
bor, shoulder to shoulder, like a band of brothers — should, 
as it were, amalgamate into one mass, and make a uni- 
ted effort to frame a system of organic law which should 
best secure to each and to all " life, liberty, prop- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness" — was exhibiting to 
the world a spectacle perhaps never before witnessed. 
It was, if we may so speak, a political miracle. Once 
or twice Mr. Chatfield did, indeed, probably without 
consideration, and from momentary in)pulse, make an 
appeal to party interest and party feeling, but, as Mr. 
Harris is reported to have good-hnmoredly said, he 
(Mr. C.) rung the party rattle in vain. The spirit of 
party would not come when he called it ; and so far 
from the appeal being successful, it was, by Mr. C.'s 
own political friends, signally rebuked. 

The present constitution is the work of no party, be- 
cause it was made by all parties, and therefore is, as the 
organic law ought to be, the work of ail parties. 

The articles most likelv to produce effects on political 
parties, are the third article, which directs that the mem- 
bers of the senate and assembly shall be chosen by 



670 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

sincrle districts, and the fifth and sixth articles, which di- 
rect that the state, judicial, and county officers shall be 
elected by the people. 

Before the convention of 1821, all officers, civil and 
militarv, from the chancellor down to a justice of the 
peace, including all state officers except the treasurer, 
and also including the sheriffs and county clerks, mayors 
and recorders of cities, &c., were appointed by a simple 
majority of a board consisting of five men only, who 
sat at the seat of government. This tremendous power 
entered the log hut of the lieutenant or ensign of a 
miUtia company, or that of the country justice of the 
peace, as well as the mansion of the mayor of New York, 
the secretary of state, or the comptroller, and hurled 
them from their places at its own sovereign will and 
pleasure. The convention of 1821 wrested something 
from the central power ; still, however, the great offi- 
cers of state were created at Albany — still the central 
power reached every county, and was felt by every 
town in the state. The convention of 1846 have wholly 
annihilated this terrible power. How mighty the change! 
The consequence must be to make parties what they 
ought to be, that is, portions of men who differ in opin- 
ion in relation to the measures of government from other 
portions of men. So long as human beings are imper- 
fect, so long will these differences exist ; and if men 
are honest they will always, in a free government, act 
in accordance with their own views and opinions. 
Hence, among a free people, there always will be, and 
always ought to be, parties. But what is called the dis- 
cipline of party, it seems to us, must necessarily cease in 
this state. How can there be party discipline, when 
there is no longer the power to reward and punish ? 



1S46.] THE MEXICAN WAR. 671 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The ^Mexican War — Speech of Mr. John Young on a resolution to sup- 
port the War — Logialative Caucus at the close of the sessiou — Whig 
legislative Caucus* aud Address — National Reformers — The Now Scot- 
land Convention — Democratic State Convention at Syracuse — Address 
of tiie Couveution — Whig State Convention — Anti-rciit Convention at 
Albany — John Young elected Governor aiid Addison Gardiner Lieuten- 
ant-governor — Speculation ou the causes of the defeat of Gov. W' right 
— Death and character of Gen. Root — CoucluRion of Political History. 

IIavi.nu, as we ho|»e, presented a clear though brief 
view of the action of the constitutional convention, we 
shall now proceed to attempt to give some account of 
the action of political parties in the state from the time 
of the adjournment of the legislature in May to the gen- 
eral election iti November. 

The two houses adjourned on the 13th of May, but 
on the day previous to the adjournment, the news reach- 
ed Albany of the commencement of war between the 
United States and Mexico ; and but a few hours before 
the period fixed by a joint resolution of the senate and 
asseini)Iy for the termination of the session, Mr. Albert- 
son, from New York, offered the following resolution : 

" He it resolved by the logi.-;lature of the stat^ of New 
York, that th<' governor be empowered to enrol a body of 
fiftv thousand men as volunteers, with a view to act in the 
defence of the state, or to proceed to the seat of war to de- 
fend the honor and dignity of the country, and that the gov- 
ernor be hetrbv autlioriz<'d at his discretion to order the same 
on duty, and that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars 



672 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

be, and the same is hereby appropriated to defray the ex- 
penses of the same." 

Mr. Wells supported the resolution with great energy 
and zeal. Mr. Worden declared himself ready and de- 
sirous to support the country in the contest, but as no 
message had been received from the governor on the 
subject, he doubted whether it would be proper to take 
any action on the subject without communicating with 
him. He was, however, willing to prolong the session 
to afford an opportunity for such communication. 

" Mr. .J. Younsf said he would a^o for the resolution as it is. 
He would have the opportunity taken to evince the opinion of 
the leo-islature of New York. It had been known that he was 
among those who had been opposed to the annexation of Tex- 
as ; but that was now a foregone act. Texas was now bone of 
our bone, flesh of our flesh ; and he who invaded any portion 
of her soil, invades our territory — invades a part of the United 
States. He would advocate the voting of funds — the levying 
of troops to protect her rights, and to secure her territory 
from invasion. No man could doubt — it was now past doubt 
that we were in a state of war. The country was invadtid — 
the rights of our country, of our citizens, had been trampled 
upon, and he would sustain the country ri(/ht or tvrong." 

Mr. Clark seemed to think the resolution uncalled for 
at that time, and moved to lay it on the table, but his 
motion was lost, only 12 members voting for it. Nearly 
;ill the whigs voted against laying the resolution on the 
table, among whom was Mr. Worden as well as Mr. 
Young. The question was then taken on the resolution, 
and it was adopted without a division. 

The action of Mr. Young, and a large majority of the 
whigs, on this question, indicated a determination on 
their part not to make an iss\;e with the general admin- 
istration on the war question. 



1846] DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS. 673 

The declaration of Mr. Young, that he would support 
the war whether right or wrong, was supposed to have 
been elicited by the enthusiasm of the moment ; but as 
in his annual message last January, he has referred to 
his declaration on the occasion to which we allude, we 
cannot omit remarking that if that declaration is to be 
constiued in its broadest sense, its correctness may well 
be doubted. If Mr. Young meant that as a citizen or a 
soldier' he would support the faithful execution of the 
laws of his country, he was right ; but if he intended to 
declare, that as a legislator he would vote for furnishing 
the means to an executive to continue a war which in 
his conscience he believed unjust and " wrong," it is 
respectfullv submitted that his position is untenable. The 
framers of the constitution were so jealous of executive 
power, that they would not confer on the president the 
authority to declare a war ; but if Mr. Youngs propo- 
sition be as some have supposed he intended, then, ac- 
cording to his doctrine, he would feel bound, as a mem- 
ber of the national legislature, to furnish a corrupt or a 
weak and misguided president with men and money to 
continue a war which he (Mr. Y.) knew to be unjust 
and ruinous. Carry <^)ut this doctrine, and you place it in 
the discretion of the president alone, when once war is 
declared, to determine whether that war shall not be 
endless. 

Before the adjournment of the legislature, the demo- 
cratic members held a caucus for the purpose of agreeing 
on an address to their constituents. It is said only two 
of the hunkers attended this meeting, one of whom was 
Mr. Wells, who made a speech against the proceedings. 

An address, however, was issued, which set forth 
the leading principles advocated by the party, and urged 

67 



674 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

union, activity, and energy of action in the democratic 
ranks. 

After the adjournment of the legislature, five senators 
and nine members of the assembly, alleging that they had 
been selected as a committee " by a portion of the dem- 
ocratic members of the two branches of the legisla- 
ture," issued an address. It is remarkably well written, 
but it attacks with great severity the radical party and 
the state officers. It charges them with predetei'mined 
hostility to Gov. Bouck, and with secret hostiHty to Mr. 
Polk, and it charges the canal board with refusing to 
appoint any persons to office who do not yield " an im- 
plicit adhesion to a particular faction." Even day- 
laborers on the canal, it alleges, are compelled to be sub- 
ject to sucth a subservience to the central power. The 
address does not in terms attack Gov. Wright, but it 
evidently " turns a cold shoulder towards him." This 
was an unpromising commencement by the democratic 
party of a campaign against the great whig party. 

The abolitionists, native Americans, and anti-renters, 
all retained their several organizations. The former 
nominated and supported their own candidates for state 
officers, but the latter adhered to their policy of select- 
ing from the two great parties such candidates as in 
their judgment would be most likely to favor their views. 

There was an attempt made to organize still another 
party in the city of New York, known by the name of 
'* NATIONAL RKFORMERs." It consisted of philosophical 
and speculative men, who established a weekly news- 
paper, called "Young America," which' was conducted 
by Mr. George H. Evans, an able but rather visionary 
writer. 

A friend has put into our hands a few numbers of this 



1846.] NATIONAL REFORMERS. 675 

paper, but we have not had leisure to examine them 
with the care and attention which would be necessary 
in order to present a correct summary of all the prin- 
ciples which the editor seems desirous to maintain and 
establish. 

The first proposition of the reformers is, that " man 
has a right to land." 

2. " In strict justice the landless ought to be })ut in 
immediate possession of their share of the appropriated 
soil, and to receive compensation from the monopolists 
for the loss of education, property, and other dcjiriva- 
tions they have suffered for want of their birthright." 
But as this cannot be effected as society is at present 
organized, without confusion and human slaughter, the 
reformers propose that in future every person shall be 
disabled from acqub'ing more than his reasonable share 
of the soil, not to exceed say 160 acres of land. To ac- 
complish this they propose that on the death of any 
existing landholder, owning more than 160 acres of 
land, the surplus shall be sold to the landless, and the 
purchase-money divided among the heirs of the deceased 
proprietor. 

3. That a home, with a reasonable quantity of land 
attached to it, shall be secured to the descendants of the 
head of each family, inalienable, and not subject to be 
affected by mortgages or other liens. 

4. That the public lands should be surveyed into 
townships, and the townships into lots of 160 acres, ex- 
cept 640 acres in the centre of each township, which 
should be laid out in village lots, and that any landless 
adult citizen, whether male or female, might enter on 
and hold one of these lots, on payment of five dollars for 
the expense of surveying the same. 



676 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

The Young America presents to its readers, at the 
head of its editorial department, the following pledge, 
which no doubt is intended to contain a summary of 
the peculiar doctrines of the National Reform Associa- 
tion — 

"We whose names are annexed, desirous of restoring to 
man his natural right to land, do solemnly agree, that we 
will not vote for any man for the presidency or congress who 
will not pledge himself in writing, to use all the influence of 
his station, if elected, to prevent all further traffic in the pub- 
lic lands, of the states and of the United Slates, and to cause 
them to be laid out in farms and lots for the free and exclu- 
sive use of actual settlers ; or for any man for the governor- 
ship or the legislature, who will not so pledge himself to the 
freedom of the public lands, to a limitation of the quantity of 
land to be obtained by any individual hereafter in this state, 
to the exemption of the homestead from any future debt or 
mortgage, and to a limitation to ten of the hours of daily 
labor, on public works or in establishments chartered by law." 

An event occurred in the county of Albany before the 
adjournment of the legislature, which served greatly to 
increase the existing hostility between the hankers and 
radicals in that county : and as an account of it was im- 
mediately afterwards pubhshed m nearly all the country 
papers, it had the effect of producing disunion in the 
democratic party in other parts of the state. 

A convention was called at Mr. Clarke's, in New 
Scotland, for the purpose of nominating candidates for 
members of the constitutional convention, by the demo- 
cratic party of the county of Albany. This convention 
assembled on the 3ist of March, and was attended by 
many of the most respectable citizens of the city and 
county of Albany. In organizing the meeting, a dis- 
pute arose in relation to the a])iv)intment of its officers, 



184(5.] DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 677 

and respecting the persons who were entitled to seats as 
delegates. The controversy immediately assumed a 
boisterous and belligerent character, personal violence 
was committed, and the hunkers finally withdrew from 
the meeting, alleging that the radicals had hired reck- 
less persons from the city to accompany them, with a 
view to overawe and subdue their opponents by means 
of physical force. A protracted and bitter controversy 
was carried on between the Argus and Atlas respecting 
which party was the caus6 of this outrage. We do not 
propose to say any thing on that question, but would 
merely remark that it is deeply to be regretted that a 
breach of the peace and personal violence should have 
been committed, at a meeting of estimable and worthy 
citizens convened to deliberate on political subjects, 
especially as those citizens claimed to belong to the 
same party : that its effect was most disastrous to the 
democratic party in the county, was proved by the 
elections which succeeded it. 

The democratic state convention was held at Syra- 
cuse on the first day of October. The radicals and 
hunkers had each made efforts to obtain a majority of the 
delegates. The former, however, were most successful 
in that contest, and nearly two radicals to one hunker 
were chosen. From the counties of Oneida and Albany, 
a double set of delegates were sent to Syracuse. From 
the county of Albany, John Van Buren and three other 
radicals appeared and claimed their seats, and Rufus W. 
Peckham and three other hunkers claimed adversely to 
Mr. Van Buren and his friends. From the county of 
Oneida, Horatio Seymour and three other hunkers 
claimed seats, which were contested by Ward Hunt, 
and three other radicals. 

57* 



G78 POLiTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

The convenliou decided in favor of the claims of Mr. 
Seymour and his colleagues without much discussion ; 
but the right of Mr. Van Buren and his friends to seats 
was elaborately discussed. Much ardor was exhibited, 
and very sharp passages occurred between some of the 
members. Eventually, the right of Mr. Van Buren and 
his colleagues was confirmed by a vote of 74 to 44. 
The result of this vote probably shovv's the comparative 
strength of the two parties in the convention, although it 
is true that Mr. Flanders, who had been chosen as a radi- 
cal, and who professed to belong to that party, advoca- 
ted and voted in favor of the claim of Mr. Peckham and 
his associates. 

The convention was then regularly organized by the 
appointment of Chester Loomis, a late senator from the 
county of Ontario, for president, and E. F. Purdy, of 
New York, and seven others, vice-presidents. On bal- 
loting for a candidate for governor, Silas Wright had 
112 votes, Amasa J. Parker 7, and Ileman J. Red- 
field 6. 

On the niotion of Mr. Seymour, Mr. Wright's nomi- 
nation was declared to be unanimous. 

Addison Gardiner immediately afterwards was unani- 
mously nominated lieutenant-governor. Several ballot- 
ings were then had for canal commissioners, but event- 
ually Cornelius L. Allen, of Washington county, and 
John T. Hudson, of Erie county, were declared duly 
nominated. 

A very able and lengthy address was read to the con- 
vention, in which the arrangement with Great Britain 
respecting the Oregon territory was considered and ap- 
proved, the re-enactment of the independent treasury 
law by congress highly commended, the late tariflf and 



184G.] DE.MuCiCATlC ADDRESS. 679 

warehouse acts examined and approved ; the Mexican 
war was alluded to, and a desire expressed for a speedy 
and honorable peace ; the constitution framed by the 
late convention was commended, and the prominent 
alterations it proposed of the constitution of 1821, such 
as those relating to the executive and legislative depart- 
ments, administrative officers, judicial department, and 
our financial system, were set forth with great clearness 
and ability. 

The address concludes with a handsome eulogy on 
the candidates recommended by the convention. As 
respects Mr.. Wright, it says : 

" At the last gubernatorial election, the political condition 
of tlie state and of the Union demanded from the republicans 
of New York an effort worthy of their cause and of themselves. 
A presidential election was, as was generally beheved, and as 
iW result proved, to be detennined by the vote of this state, 
and it thus became the battle-ground of the Union. Our 
brethren throughout the United States united with us in an 
anxious solicitude that in such a contest, which was to deter- 
mine the policy of the government perhaps forever, in regard 
to important if not vital measures which had divided parties 
almost since their formation, and which was to restore, or post- 
pone indefinitely, democratic ascendency, a leader might be 
selected in this state, the strength of whose public and private 
character would furnish to them, as well as to ourselves, a cer- 
tain promise of victory. 

" Such a man was Silas Wright ; and an almost universal 
public expression indicated him as the standard-bearer of the 
republicans of this state in that great and decisive struggle be- 
tween democracy and federalism. The Syracuse Convention 
responded to this general desire, by putting him in nomination 
for governor, and he surrendered his well-known and publicly 
declared disinchnation to accept the office, to the ardent wishes 
of the friends of the cause. 

'■ The stern fidelity with which he has upheld ihe financial 



(580 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

policy that redeemed the credit and character of the state, his 
fearless vindication of the majesty of the law, and, at the same 
time, merciful dispensation of its justice, his careful and un- 
wearied attention to the varied and responsible duties of his 
office, and his integrity, ability, and impartiality in their dis- 
charge, have given to New York a high rank among her sister 
states, and have furnished new and additional reasons to her 
citizens for requiring the continued services of her distinguish- 
ed chief- magistrate. 

" The increased and singular unanimity in his favor mani- 
fested by the convention which nominated Silas Wright, is 
an honest reflection of the democratic will, and a well-earned 
tribute to the fairness, prudence, wisdom, and ability with 
which the just expectations of the democrats of the state have 
been met and fulfilled — and we again, with unhesitating con- 
fidence, commit him to the hands of a people whose pleasure 
and pride it ever has been to cherish, defend, and sustain 
him." 

The members of the convention seemed to separate 
in good spirits, and with feelings of cordiality towards 
each other. 

We have before stated that there were two parties 
among the whigs, one of which, for convenience, we 
named radical, and the other conservative. But the 
movements of the whigs are to us involved in so much 
obscurity, that we cannot speak with much certainty of 
those divisions. They are probably less publicly known 
and less marked, though they in fact exist, for the reason 
that the whigs are not so regularly organized as the 
democrats have been, and because, for several years 
past, they have, for the greater part of the time, been in 
the minority. That, however, such men as Gov. Sew- 
ard, Thurlow Weed, and many others acting with them, 
entertain views in relation to both men and measures 
different from Millard Fillmore, John A. Collier, the 



1846.] WHIG STATE CONVENTION. 681 

present lieutenant-governor, Fish, &c., we have no man- 
ner of doubt. 'J'he Evening Journal, the Tribune, and 
various other whig papers which follow their lead, are 
the organs of the former ; while the Express, the New 
York Courier and Enquirer, the Oneida Whig, the Buffa- 
lo Commercial Advertiser, &c., express the views of the 
latter. The former look with more favor on adopted 
citizens, and changes in our system of government and 
laws, especially those which seem to be called for by 
popular opinion, than the latter. Probably the conser- 
vative whigs possess the most wealtli, but the radicals 
far the most activity and energy. Our own impression 
is, that Mr. John Young occupies a position between 
those two sections. How long he will be able to main- 
tain his "juste 7nilieu" position, time only will dis- 
close. 

The whig convention was held at Utica, on the •23d 
day of September. It was conducted with great energy 
and spirit, though its proceedings exhibit very clearly 
the lines of division between the conservative and radi- 
cal whigs. 

Philip Hone, a worthy and much esteemed citizen of 
New York, and formerly mayor of that city, was chosen 
president. The members first informally balloted for a 
candidate for governor, with the following result. On 
the first ballot Millard Fillmore received 55 votes, John 
Young 36, Ira Harris 21, William Daer 3, John A. Col- 
lin 2, blank 2. A second ballot was then had, which 
also resulted without any candidate receiving a ma- 
jority of all the votes ; but on the third ballot Mr. Young 
received 76 votes, and Mr. Fillmore 45. There can be 
little doubt but that nearly, if not all the votes which on 
the first ballot were given to Mr. Harris, were on the 



682 POLITICAL IIldTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

third ballot given to Mr. Young, and produced his nomi- 
nation. 

After the informal balloting Mr. Babcock, of Erie 
county, informed the convention that the name of Mr. 
Fillmore had been used against his expressed wishes, and 
that the delegates from Erie county had consented to 
its use on the informal ballot, in compliance v^'ith the 
earnest solicitation of delegates from other counties. 
From all these circumstances, we infer that the forty- 
five votes given for Mr. Fillmore on the last ballot were 
given by conservative whigs. Mr. Young was, of 
course, nominated for governor, and on the motion of 
Mr. Christopher Morgan, Mr. Hamilton Fish was unan- 
imously nominated lieutenant-governor. Charles Cooke, 
of Chemung, and Thomas Clowes, of Rensselaer, were 
designated as candidates for canal commissioners. Two 
or three resolutions, and a brief address to the people, 
were adopted and published. 

The convention, after the delivery of several eloquent 
speeches, adjourned in great harmony. Among those 
who addressed the convention were the president, (Mr. 
Hone,) Mr. Morgan, of Auburn, Mr. Thayer, of New 
York, and Mr. Dawson, of Albany. 

The liberty party, at an early day, made their nomi- 
nation for state officers. Mr. Stewart having declined 
a renomination, they nominated Henry Bradley for 
governor, and William L. Chaplin for lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, and James Sperry and John Thomas for canal 
commissioners. 

The Native Americans also took the field, and put in 
nomination Ogden Edwards as their candidate for gov- 
ernor. Mr. Edwards has been several times mentioned, 
in the preceding volumes of this work, as a distinguished 



184G.] A.\Ti-r;ENT convkxtfon. 083 

member of the legislature and of the convention of 1821, 
and as having for a long time held the office of circuit 
judge of the first circuit. Judge Edwards, in his letter 
accepting the nomination, reviews the action of political 
parties in this state, and animadverts with some severity 
on the conduct of both the great parties. 

At a convention held at Beardsley's hotel, in Albany, 
in the month of October, by the anti-renters, on the sub- 
ject of state officers, they resolved to support John 
Young for governor, and Addison Gardiner for lieutenant- 
governor. Mr. Evans attended this convention in be- 
half of the national reformers. A committee of th;:t 
party had addressed letters to the whig, democratic, and 
liberty party candidates for governor, inquiring of them, 
respectively, whether they were for or against the lead- 
ing doctrines of the reform party. To those letters 
Gov. Wriffht and Mr. Young had either returned no an- 
swers, or answers which were not satisfactory ; but Mr, 
Bradley and Mr. Chaplin, the liberty party candidates, 
had made answers which met the approbation of Mr. 
Evans and his friends. Mr. Evans, therefore, was for 
nominating Mr. Bradley, or for repudiating all ihe can- 
didates then before the public, and making an indt>pen- 
dent nomination. Several of the anti-renters (and it is 
presumed these were democratic anti-renters) were in 
favor of nominating a new candidate, but Mr. Win. B. 
Wright, a member from Sullivan county, earnestly urged, 
in an elaborate speech, the non)ination of Mr. Young: 
among other things, he affirmed that if Mr. Young 
was elected, he would pardon the anti-rent convicts. 
From the ballots given at this convention, the number 
of those who took part in its proceedings must have 
been small. A correspondent of the Young America 



6Si POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

States that the result of the balloting was 20 votes for 
John Young, 7 for Benton A. Thomas, and 3 for Henry 
Bradley. 

It is said that efforts were made by many of the dem- 
ocratic anti-renters to nominate Mr. Wright instead of 
Mr. Young, and that he was earnestly pressed by some 
oi' them to give some assurances that he would, at an 
early period, pardon those who had been convicted in 
Delaware and Columbia counties, and that he declined 
to make any intimations as to what his future action on 
that subject would be. For this reason, it is further as- 
serted, the democratic anti-renters were compelled to 
give him uj). That something of this kind did take place 
we have little doubt ; nor do we doubt but that some of 
the radical friends of Gov. Wright made efforts to in- 
duce the anti-renters to nominate him. But the anti- 
rent convention was held in Albany, where Mr. Ira 
Harris then resided. He enjoyed the full confidence of 
the members of the convention, and was an avowed 
friend of Mr. Young. Is it not reasonable to presume 
that his opinion, together with that of Mr. W. B. Wright, 
ftad a controlling effect in the selection of a gubernato- 
rial candidate by the convention, which was mainlv 
composed of farmers and workingmen from the country ? 
it has also been stated, in several public newspapers, 
that Judge Harris had in his possession a letter from 
Mr. Young, which at that time, or at a subsequent pe- 
riod before the election, he exhibited, in which Mr. 
Young expressed an opinion that those convicts ought 
to be pardoned, and that if elected he would pardon 
them. We do not know that such was the fact, but, as 
we have just remarked, it was so charged in several 
newspapers, and never to our knowledge denied, either 



1846.] MR. young's letter to MR. HARRIS. 685 

by Mr. Young or Judge Harris. Some of the conserva- 
tive whig papers, the Courier and Enquirer and New- 
York Express, animadverted with great severity on Mr. 
Young for writing this letter. If it was written, and 
intended as an overture to induce the anti-renters to vote 
for him, it was beyond question an unjustifiable act ; but 
if it was an answer to an inquiry as to what his opinion 
was on that subject, and if, as afterwards appeared, in 
his judgment a pardon ought to be granted to those men, 
(and for which opinion he gave many very plausible 
reasons,) it is difficult to perceive why he was more de- 
serving of censure for expressing that opinion, than Mr. 
Clay and Mr. Van Buren were for declaring themselves 
against, or Mr. Polk for declaring himself in favor of the 
annexation of Texas before the last presidential election. 
It was a grave question of state policy, on which the 
electors, and especially the anti-renters, had a right to 
know his opinion, and it was his right, and perhaps his 
duty to declare it. 

The national reformers finally nominated, and it is 
presumed supported Mr. Bradley for governor, and Wil- 
Uam E. Chaplin for lieutenant-governor. 

We ought before to have mentioned that in the spring 
of 1846, Mr. Hoffman was appointed surveyor of the 
port of New York, which was, so far as we can recol- 
lect, the only important appointment conferred by Mr. 
Polk on the radicals in this state. We ought also to 
have stated that during the session of the constitutional 
convention. Gov. Bouck, who was, as we have seen, a 
member of that body, was appointed receiver of the 
public moneys in the city of New York, under the law 
for the establishment of an independent treasury. Per- 
sonally, the appointment was not only unexceptionable, 

58 



G86 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

but a very good one. The character of Gov; Bouck as 
a correct business man, his pecuniary ability, and his 
known integrity, rendered him as suitable a person to 
be selected for that office as any man in the state ; but 
the prominent position he held in the ranks of the hun- 
kers induced an impression that the national adminis- 
tration intended by this appointment to afford a demon- 
stration, on the eve of the gubernatorial election, that 
the hunker party were regarded at Washington as spe- 
cial favorites. " The government at Washington," says 
an intelligent though ardent and excited radical, in a 
private letter to the author, " to manifest its will and 
pleasure, before any thing was known how the conven- 
tion would act, walked into that body on a fine sum- 
mer's morning, and crowned Gov. Bouck king of the 
sub-treasury. I have always considered this as the 
grossest insult to Gov. Wright. Gov. Bouck was the 
head of the opposition, and known to be so. This ac- 
tion was the significant indication of the guillotine 
prepared for Gov. Wright in November. From that 
moment the officers of the general government intrigued 
and caballed to defeat him." This last allegation is, 
however, denied by those officers. Indeed, our corre- 
spondent himself says that " the president and most of 
his secretaries wrote to Gov. Wright on the eve of the 
election of 1846, disclaiming all knowledge of the offi- 
cial action of the government officers, and expressing 
for him the warmest friendship ;" but the writer doubts 
their sincerity. 

The vote of the liberty party, which in 1844 amount- 
ed to nearly sixteen thousand votes, was this year re- 
duced to about twelve thousand, while the anti-renters, 
with less numerical force, by the exercise of their bal- 



1846.] THE LIBERTY PARTY. 687 

ance-power, elected a lieutenant-governor, at lea.st one 
canal commissioner, one senator, and ten or twelve 
members of the assembly.* 

The abolition party, in proportion to its numbers, as 
we have before remarked, contains more wealth and 
talent, and, we may add, more individual integrity and 
virtue, than any other political party in the state ; and 
yet they are few in number, and that number seems 
to be decreasing. Whence is this ? It cannot be ow- 
ing to ho.stility to their " one idea" — their great and par- 
amount principle of opposition to human slavery — for 
there are thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands 
in the state who in that respect entirely concur with 
them. If it is allowable so to speak, they are too hon- 
est and conscientious to extend their numbers as a polit- 
ical party. Their very honesty renders them proscrip- 
tive. They appear to have adopted as a part of their 
political ethics, the maxim of scripture in regard to the 
observance of the moral law — that to offend in one 
point, is to be guilty of a breach of the whole law. 
Hence some of their papers have denounced such men 
as John Quincy Adams, Giddings, and Slade, and there 
are those among them who denounce John P. Hale. A 
remarkable instance of the extreme tenacity with which 
they adhere to their abstract principles, was exhibited 
in their conduct in relation to the election of delegates 
in the spring of 1846 to the constitutional convention. 
It was conceded that only one question could come be- 
fore the convention in which they as abolitionists felt 
any interest, and that was, whether an equal right of 



* They have recently caused the election of two, and probably three of 
the judges of the Supreme Court, and it may be of an attorney-general. 



6S3 POLITICAL HISTOKV OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

suifrage should be extended to colored citizens ? It was 
further admitted, that there was not a single county in 
the state that could by possibility elect an abolitionist as 
an abolitionist. It was also well known that candidates 
were or would be in nomination in probably a large ma- 
jority of the counties in the state, by the whig and dem- 
ocratic parties, some of whom held opinions favorable, 
and some adverse to the equalization of the right of suf- 
frage ; and that in several of those counties the aboli- 
tionists rai^ht have selected candidates from the two 
great parties, and caused their election, who, if elected, 
would carry into effect in the convention the views of 
the liberty party on that subject. In this condition of 
things the sagacious and judicious Westley Bailey, ed- 
itor of the Liberty Press at Utica, recommended to his 
friends the course last suggested. This simple sugges- 
tion produced instantaneous excitement among many of 
the abolitionists. A convention was called, which as- 
sembled at Winfield, in Herkimer county, and Mr. Gerrit 
Smith, one of the most kind-hearted, liberal, and benev- 
olent men of the age, attended the meeting, and for hours 
addressed the audience in an eloquent and fervent speech, 
in which he urged that the party was pledged not to vote 
for a slaveholder, nor any man who would vote for a 
slaveholder, and solemnly adjured them, on that occa- 
sion, not to violate that pledge. A large majority of the 
convention adopted his views. The liberty party are 
desirous, sincerelv and anxiously desirous, that the slave 
should be liberated, but they will allow none but them- 
selves to break his chain and open his prison-door. 

The Native American ticket received but few votes. 

The contest between the two great parties terminated 
in the election of Mr. Young by a majority of 11,572 



1846] RESULT OF THE ELECTIOX. 689 

votes over Mr. Wright, and the election of Mr. Gardi- 
ner over Mr. Fish by a majority of 13,357. Thomas 
Clowes, one of the whig candidates for canal commis- 
sioner, was elected over Mr. Allen bs- 7,255 votes, and 
John T. Hudson, one of the democratic candidates for 
the same office, was elected over Mr. Cooke, the candi- 
date of the whig party, by a majority of 13,366 votes. 
Messrs. Young, Gardiner, Hudson, and Clowes were the 
nominees of the anti-rent state convention. 

Mr. Clowes has long been known as an active and 
energetic politician. He had, during the administration 
of Gov. Seward, been appointed canal appraiser, and 
well and faithfully discharged the duties of that impor- 
tant office. His election, therelore, to the office of ca- 
nal commissioner, was hailed bv his friends and ac- 
quaintauce as an auspicious event ; but he unfortunately 
gained nothing by his election. During the bustle of 
preparation for the election, it seems it did not occur to 
the members of either of the state conventions, that un- 
der the new constitution there could be no vacancy in 
the office of canal cx)mmissioners, except by death or 
resignation, until January, 1848; for that constitution 
provided that the terms of office of the commissioners 
should not expire untiJ the 1st day of February, 1847; 
and that those in office on the 1st day of January then 
next, should hold their office until others were suIkc- 
quently elected in their stead. But the death of Mr. 
Earl left one vacancy in the board of commissioners, 
and to fill that vacancy, Gov. Wright appointed his po- 
litical friend, Mr. John T. Hudson. 

The whigs also succeeded in electing five senators 
out of the eight which were chosen at that election. 
There were returned elected to the assembly, 68 whigs, 

58* 



G90 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 

50 democrats, and 10 anti-rent members. Of the mem- 
bers of congress the whigs elected 23, and the demo- 
crats 11. by an aggregate majority of the popular vote 
in the state of 21,051. The majority in favor of the 
new constitution was about 130,000. The returns ex- 
hibited the following curious results : 

The aggregate electoral vote in the state was in 1846 
about 90,000 less than in 1844. Mr. Wright's vote in 
'46 was about 54,000 less than in '44. Mr. Gardiner's 
vote exceeded that of Mr. Young about 24,000 ; and 
Mr. Fish's aggregate vote was about 500 more than 
Gov. Wright's. In the county of Albany ]Mr. Young's 
majority over Mr. Wright was 2.818 ; in Delaware 
county it was 1,802. In 1844, Mr. Fillmore's majority 
in Albanv county over Mr. Wright was 25 votes only ; 
and in the county of Delaware jNIr. Wright's majority 
over Mr. Fillmore was 975. In the city of New York, 
in 1844, Mr. Wright's majority was 3,340 ; but in 1846 
it was 5,180. In the county of Oneida, where no anti- 
rent party at any time existed, Gov. Wright, in 1844, 
obtained a majority of 821 over Mr. Fillmore ; and in 
1846 Mr. Young's majority over Mr. Wright, in the 
"same county, was 1,337 votes ! 

Here, according to the plan we had marked out, our 
political history closes ; but we shall take leave to add 
some observations on the probable causes of the result 
of the election in November, 1846, and particularly of 
the defeat of Gov. Wright. We say, then, his re-election 
was not prevented by any of the following causes : 

1. Gov. Young was not elected because there was a 
legitimate whig majority in the state. No question re- 
specting state or national measures had agitated the 



1846.] CAUSES OF -AIR. WRIGHT "i DEFEAT. 691 

public mind, about which men differed in opinion, since 
the election of 1845. It is true, a war with Mexico had 
been declared, but all parties, except the abolitionists, 
were anxious to manifest their zeal in favor of the vig- 
orous prosecution of the war. 

2. It is doubted whether, in a single instance, any in- 
dividual of standing and character, between November, 
'45, and November, '46, changed his opinion on any im- 
portant political question. Certainly no such change 
was publicly avowed. 

3. The vote of the electors of the state in 1845, and 
when the delegates to the constitutional convention were 
chosen so late as May, 1846, exhibited a clear and deci- 
ded democratic majority in the state : and the votes for 
judges of the Court of Appeals, which were given only 
about seven months after the November election of 1846, 
also proved that at that time there was a large demo- 
cratic majority in the state ; for not one word was ut- 
tered, and not one word could have been uttered, by any 
man who had a decent regard for his reputation, against 
the ability, integrity, and personal fitness of the whig 
candidates for judges. 

4. It was not caused by personal hostility, or the per- 
sonal unpopularity of Gov. Wright. His great talents 
were universally admitted. His frank and easy deport- 
ment, and his kind and social nature, rendered him uni- 
versally esteemed and beloved. " He bore his faculties 
so meek, and had been so clear in his great office," that 
we do not believe the man then lived, or now lives, who 
would then, or will now, declare himself personally un- 
friendly to him. 

What, then, was the cause of Governor Wright's de- 
feat ? 



692 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

Shortly after the result of the election was known, 
a series of five consecutive numbers appeared in the 
Albany Atlas, written with great ability, entitled, " The 
result of the New York state election, its causes and 
consequences." The author has evidently been long 
familiar with the politics of this state, and reviews the 
action and motives of action of political parties and the 
fragments of parties for many years past, with apparent 
candor. 

The first cause of the result which the writer men- 
tions, is the vote of the anti-renters. He arrives at the 
amount of this vote by the case of Messrs. Clowes and 
Allen. These gentlemen, he says, were both unexcep- 
tionable men, — neither possessed more than ordinary 
personal popularity, and both received the fair and le- 
gitimate vote of the parties to which they respectively 
belonged ; but Mr. Clowes received the anti-rent vote, 
and his majority over Mr. Allen was 7,255. He then 
shows that the difference in the vote for Mr. Wright 
between the years 1844 and 1846, in the city of Albany 
and in the counties of Allegany, Oneida, Onondaga, 
Chenango, Lewis, Cayuga, Herkimer, Chemung, and 
Steuben, where no anti-rentism prevailed, was more 
than suflScient to overcome the majority given to Mr. 
Clowes ; and hence he concludes that the anti-rent vote 
was " a cause," but not the cause of the defeat. 

The writer then proceeds to assign, as another cause, 
the veto of the canal bill by Gov. Wright ; and he con- 
cedes that the majorities in favor of Mr. Young in the 
counties of Lewis, Oneida, Allegany, &c., may have 
been in part occasioned by that veto. But Mr. Wright's 
opinions on the subject of expenditures for internal im- 
provements and the creation of state debts, were clearly 



184G.] CAUSES OF MU. Wright's defeat. 093 

and distinctly stated as long ago as the year 1827, in his 
report on the petition of David E. Evans and others.* 
And again : it was well known, in 1844, to every man of 
common intelligence in the state, that he had not changed 
those opinions. It may be added, that it is most obvious 
that the veto message was a mere reiteration of them. 
We think, therefore, that the author of " causes and con- 
sequences' was right in his conclusion, that the veto of 
the canal bill was " a cause," but not " the cause" of the 
loss of Mr. Wright's election. 

The writer then proceeds to assign as ''the cause" of 
Mr. Wright's failure, the opposition of the hunkers, 
which he calls the " conservative party." He traces 
back the history of this party to the year 1827 : he 
claims that they were the party who were most pressing 
for the chartering of banks ; who were generally inter- 
ested in the stocks which from time to time were crea- 
ted ; who were many of them deeply interested in locali- 
ties to be affected by proposed canals or railroads, and 
were therefore favorable to most of the projected inter- 
nal improvements ; who were interested in keeping in 
the market a large amount of state stocks, and therefore 
desirous of increasing the public debt ; and finally, that 
the hunkers represented a union of all these interests, 
which were, of course, opposed to the restrictive policy 
of Gov. Wright. The author concludes by affirming, 
that " this conservative party, thus bound together ex- 
clusively by selfish interests, and seeking only personal 
advancement and personal gain, was the cause of the de- 
feat of Gov. Wright, and of the democratic party in this 
state, at the late election." 

• See supra. 



694 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

He then proceeds to charge Mr. Edwin Croswell 
with being the principal and most efficient member ot 
this association, and that the course of the Argus pre- 
vious to the election furnished powerful means for 
carrying into effect their views. 

That the collisions between the hunkers and radicals 
in the legislature, and the conduct of some of the most 
radical state officers, with whom the hunkers knew the 
governor coincided in principle, and with whom they 
suspected he sympathized in feeling, coupled with the 
defeat of the renomination of Gov. Bouck, in 1844, pro- 
duced a coldness on their part towards Gov. Wright, 
which at the election deadened the energy of a large 
portion of the democratic party in many counties in the 
state, cannot be doubted. It is also true that the Ar- 
gus, the oldest, and certainly in former days the most 
influential and most extensively circulated democratic 
paper in the state, although it placed at the head of its 
columns the state democratic nomination, to use its own 
significant expression, turned a cold shoulder to Gov. 
Wright. It is not our business, nor do we intend to 
express an opinion, whether the hunkers had or had not 
good cause for this course. Of that every reader will of 
course judge for himself, after recalling to his recollec- 
tion their political position, and what since the year 
1842 had taken place between them and their opponents 
in the democratic party. All we mean to say is, that 
we believe that, with now and then a very rare excep- 
tion, the leading and prominent hunkers themselves 
voted for Mr. Wright ; but that the coldness of so many 
highly respectable and influential men as composed the 
body of the hunkers, scattered as they were over the 
state, from Long Island to Buffalo, must have discouraged 



1846.] CAUSES OP MR. Wright's defeat. 095 

many of their democratic friends, repressed their ardor 
in the cause, and induced some of them to yield to the 
persuasion of the whigs to vote at that time their ticket, 
and others to remain at home and decHne voting. 
Hence we see that the number of votes cast for Gov. 
Wrio-ht was 54,000 less than the number he received at 
the preceding election, and yet Mr. Young's majority 
was less than 12,000. The whig vote, when compared 
with their vote in 1844, was diminished less than 39,000. 
We therefore agree with the author of "Causes and 
Consequences," that the anti-rent vote, the canal veto, 
the course of the editor of the Albany Argus, and the 
hunker party, were, we should prefer to say, among the 
causes of the defeat of Gov. Wright. We say among 
the causes, for we believe there was still another cause, 
not mentioned by our author, and that was the action or 
supposed action of the general government. 

Whether the president or any of his secretaries coun- 
tenanced the hunkers in their indisposition to support 
Mr. Wright, we do not know. We are nevertheless 
inclined to believe that they never at any time made 
any express declaration of a wish that his election should 
be defeated. But that a very general impression pre- 
vailed, that the hunkers were especial favorites at 
Washington, we know to be the fact. How could it be 
otherwise? Gov. Marcy, who had been placed at the head 
of one of the most important departments, and which, 
particularly in time of war, held within its power an 
immense amount of patronage, was a distinguished 
hunker, and, contrary to the assurances given at the 
Baltimore convention, was appointed, when Governor 
Wriaht, as was well known, was in favor of another 
citizen of this state as its representative in the national 



696 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 

cabinet. Judge Nelson, also an eminent hunker, had 
been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, au office the discharge of the duties of 
\vhich required his residence at Washington a consider- 
able portion of the year ; and lastly, a short time before 
the election. Governor Bouck, who more than any 
other individual represented the hunker party, was ap- 
pointed to one of the most important and influential 
offices in the city of New York. When the appoint- 
ments of governors Marcy and Bouck were made, the 
real state of feeling between the hunker and radical 
parties in New York must have been as well under- 
stood at Washington as at Albany. 

We are aware that Mr. Ritchie, the editor of the 
government paper at the seat of the national govern- 
ment, shortly before the election, published in the Union 
a sort of general order, impudently forbidding (at least 
impliedly) all office-holders under the president to vote 
against Mr. Wright, under the pains and penalty of re- 
moval from office. We know, too, that a few days be- 
fore the election, Mr. Polk and several of his secretaries 
wrote to Mr. Wright, assuring him of their anxious de- 
sire that he should be successful at the ensuing election. 
We are not advised that he made any use of these letters ; 
but if he or his friends had so attempted, it was evident 
they came too late. The mischief was done, and the 
time for obviating it had gone by., It is an old maxim 
of the common law, that unusual, labored, and redun- 
dant declarations in a deed for conveyance of real 
estate — that the transaction is bona fide and honest, and 
that a full, ample, and valuable consideration has been 
paid — is one of the ear-marks of fraud ; and accordingly 
some of the friends of Gov. Wright doubted the sincerity 



181G.] CAUSES OF MR. WRIGIIt's DEFEAT. 697 

of these assurances. We cannot believe that Mr. 
Polk, conscious as he must have been, that he owed his 
own elevation to the generous and patriotic sacrifice of 
interest and feeling by Gov. Wright, could have been 
disposed, either directly or indirectly, to encourage the 
opposition to Mr. Wright. But it was well known that 
Mr. Wright disagreed with the president and his cabi- 
net on the question respecting the admission of Texas ; 
it was also well known that Mr. Wright, if he should 
consent, would be a formidable candidate for the next 
presidency, and tiiat he had already been all but nomi- 
nated by the persevering and indomitable Thomas H. 
Benton. I\fr. Buchanan and Mr. Cass w^ere avowed 
candidates for the same high office. Mr. Walker had 
also been spoken of; but if not himself a candidate, there 
can be no doubt his views were entirely adverse to the 
election of Mr. Wright ; and Secretary Marcy, prob- 
ably the ablest man in any of the departments, sympa- 
thized with the feelings of his hunker friends at home. 
With such powerful motives operating on the minds of 
the secretaries, can it be deemed uncharitable at least to 
suspect, that Messrs. Buchanan, Walker, Cass, &c., 
secretly desired to impair the standing of their great 
rival ? 

But whether the government officers at Washington 
were sincere or insincere in their declarations, is not 
material in speaking of the causes of the defeat of Mr. 
Wright. It is sufficient to say, what we do not believe 
will be denied, that from their acts the impression was. 
general that the hunkers were their favorites, and the 
radicals were viewed by them with disfavor. 

Previous to the election of 1846, by the adoption of 
the new constitution, the governor had been shorn of 

59 



698 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [l846, 

nearly all his patronage. The effect this must have 
had on an office-loving community, will be perceived 
and appreciated by every man of expei'ience and re- 
flection. We therefore feel authorized to assume that 
an impression did generally prevail that the predilections 
of the national government were in favor of the hun- 
kers ; that they were its special favorites, and that this 
impression may be regarded as one of the causes of 
the ill success of Gov. Wright at the November election 
in 1846. 

In concluding the account of the political occurrences 
of this year, which concludes our history of political 
parties, it is our melancholy and painful duty to record 
the death of that distinguished politician and statesman, 
Gen. Erastus Root. He died in the city of New York 
on the 24th day of December. A few days before his 
death he left his residence in the village of Delhi, and, 
accompanied by his lady, was journeying to Washing- 
ton, with a view of spending the winter there with their 
son-in-law. Major Hobbie, the assistant postmaster-gen- 
eral ; but Providence had decreed that he should never 
again see that city, where he had spent so many winters 
actively and anxiously engaged in the bustle and strug-. 
gles incident to political rivalries, and as a prominent 
actor and combatant in the conflicts which every session 
of congress produces. 

The author has now before him a letter written to 
him by the general the evening before he left Delhi for 
the last tyne : quite unusual with him, every sentence 
is tinged with gloom and melancholy. One would 
think, from reading it, that when he wrote he had a 
presentiment that he was then about bidding a final 
adieu to his home, and the charming village of Delhi. 



184G.] DEATH OF GEN. ROOT. G99 

Gen. Root entered the political arena in the year 
1798, and continued in the field during the residue of his 
long and active life, for he was a member of the conven- 
tion, in the autumn of 1846, which put Mr. John Young 
in nomination for governor. Much has been said of him 
in the two preceding volumes of this work ; and the 
journals and reports of the proceedings of the state and 
national legislatures, exhibit him in almost every page 
for many successive years. Some of the most impor- 
tant statutes of this state emanated from his vigorous 
and prolific intellect. With physical and mental powers 
superior to most other men — a mind highly cultivated 
by classical learning, and enriched by extensive and va- 
ried reading — a memory which never failed him — and 
with the most scathing and scorching wit always at his 
command, he was an efficient and powerful coadjutor in 
any cause which he chose to advocate ; while by his op- 
ponents he was justly regarded as a most formidable an- 
tagonist. Sometimes he may have been faulty, errors 
he may have committed, uncourteous, and even bitterly 
severe he doubtless occasionally was ; but God had 
given him a kind and generous heart, susceptible of deep 
sympathy for the unfortunate, the persecuted, and the 
miserable. He loved his friends — he loved his country, 
its civil institutions, its liberty, and its glory. During 
his long public life, no one ever ventured to charge him 
with corruption, or to insinuate a doubt of his honesty 
and integrity. 

" No farther seek his merits to disclOSQ, 
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode : 
There they ahke iu trembling hope repose, 
The bosom of his Father aud his God." 



700 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Life of Silas Wright resumed and continued — Manner in which Mr 
Wiinrht receives the news of his defeat — Letter from George W. Little, 
Esq. — Wiimot Proviso— Mr. P. King's Bill including the Wilmot Pro- 
viso — His Speech on the Bill — Resolution of the New York Legislature 
on the subject of the Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Wright leaves Albany for 
Canton — His Journey from Ulica — Letter from Col. Hinman — Chicago 
Convention — Mr. Vi'right's Reply to the Committee who invited his at- 
tondance--Mr. Wright's Address at the Saratoga Agricultural Fair — 
His Manner of Life after his return to Canton — His Death. 

Having carried down (though we fear very imper- 
fectly) the pohtical history of the state to the demise of 
the government under the constitution of 1821, we shall 
now confine ourselves to a brief account of the conduct 
of Gov. Wright during the short period he remained in 
Albany subsequent to the November election in 1846, 
after which it will become our painful duty to follow 
him in his retreat to his favorite and secluded home in 
the village of Canton, and to his last resting place — the 
grave. 

Frotn the time the result of the last presidential elec- 
tion was known, public attention, especially in the free 
and grain-growing states, was turned towards Mr. 
Wright as the man who ought to be, and who would be 
selected as the next candidate for the presidency. That 
a very large majority of the democrats in the eastern 
and western states were for him there can be little doubt. 
The current in his favor was daily deepening and wi- 
dening. Yet he had formidable rivals — among whom 



LETTER FROM G. W, LITTLE, ESa. 701 

may be. mentioned Buchanan of Pennsylvania, Cass of 
Miciiigan, Woodbury of New Hampshire, and to these 
names may, perhaps with propriety, be added Marcy, of 
New York. The November election in this state had 
cast a blight over the brilliant prospects of Mr. Wright. 
It was apparently the wreck of his political fortunes. He 
was beaten in his own state, at the very time when it 
was of the last importance he should exhibit strength at 
home. Would not his friends in the sister states aban- 
don a candidate who was condemned by the voice of 
the people of the state of which he was a citizen ? These 
and the like reflections must have pressed upon the mind 
of Mr. Wright at the close of the polls of the election. 
He had been in public life for more than twenty years, 
during which period he had seven times been a candidate, 
either before the people or their representatives, for im- 
portant elective offices, and had never been an unsuc- 
cessful one. What, under similar circumstances, would 
have been the high, indeed we may say the distracting 
excitement of the minds of most other men, subject to 
the ordinary passions of human nature ? How did the 
tidings of his defeat affect Mr. Wright? Let a gentle- 
man speak who was in company with him when he re- 
ceived the result of the election, and who listened to 
every word he uttered, and carefully observed his every 
look and gesture. 

" Albany, Dec. 21, 1847. 
" Hon. J. D. Hammond — 

" Dear Sir — On the afternoon of the day after the Novem- 
ber election in 1846, I called at the residence of Mr. Flagg, 
the comptroller, in company with Lester Barker, Esq., the 
present sheritf of Oneida county. We found there Mr. and 
Mrs. Wright. The dispatches had been but a short time re- 
ceived that rendered it certain that Mr. Wright was beaten. 

59* 



702 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

I was, of course, aware of the immense importance that at- 
tached to the result of that election, not to the democratic 
party and Mr. Wright's personal friends alone, but to him in- 
dividuallv. His opponents said, that if he was defeated in 
that contest there was an end of his career as a public man ; 
and tliat once removed from the public eye, and in retirement, 
both the man and his history would be speedily forgotten. 
This sentiment, though not avowed, I know was shared in 
some degree by his warmest friends, and I was curious to see 
how a man, whose public course for a quarter of a century had 
been one of uniform and unvarying sixccess, would bear a re- 
verse which stripped him in a moment of his employments, 
and consigned him inevitably to retirement. I observed him 
closely during a conversation of an hour and a half, and was 
fully impressed, by his language and demeanor, that he was 
not only a great statesman, but a profound philosopher. Not 
the least appearance of mortification or disappointment was 
visible. His manner and conversation were of the same cheer- 
ful, affable kind which always characterized him, and neither 
more nor less so. There was no affectation of indifference to 
the result — no desire on his part to turn the conversation into 
other channels than the then engrossing topic — no word of 
censure or reproach for those of his own party who had aban- 
doned him in the struggle — no disparagement of his competi- 
tor, or the opposing party. He inquired for the news we 
brought in his usual smiling, pleasant manner — spoke of the 
probable returns from counties not then heard from — and all 
in a manner, which, to an observer that did not know him per- 
sonally, would have appeared only like the natural interest 
a statesmen, who had been long retired from active life, 
would feel in political events which had long since ceased to 
have for him any personal concern. 

" I left that interview, the last I ever had the honor of hav- 
ing with him, more deeply impressed than ever with the con- 
viction, that with all the great and noble qualities which ele- 
vate, dignify, and adorn human nature, Silas Wright was pre- 
eminently endowed. He was truly a great man. 

G. W. LriTLB." 



VVILMOT PROVISO. 703 

The writer of the above letter is Dr. Little, late a 
canal commissioner, who, as between the two sections 
of the democratic party, was regarded as a hunker. We 
forbear to speak further of the evidence of true great- 
ness which the philosophical calmness and quiet of Gov. 
Wright afforded on this interesting occasion. The plain 
facts, truthfully related by Doctor Little, are his best 
eulogy. 

When the war against Mexico, in the spring of 1846, 
was commenced, it was believed it would be of short 
duration. One of the avowed causes of the war was 
the spoliations committed on the commerce of the Uni- 
ted States, and a refusal or neglect on the part of Mex- 
ico to make compensation to our citizens for those inju- 
ries. All were convinced of the absolute inability of 
the Mexicans to pay in cash a sum sufficient to furnish 
the required indemnity. It was therefore evident, that 
if indemnity was obtained, it must be by a grant of ter- 
ritory by Mexico, other than that included within the 
true boundaries of Texas. No doubt, at that time the 
president desired to acquire possession not only of Up- 
per California, the annexation of which would be highly 
advantageous to the United States on account of its 
ports on the Pacific ocean, but of a part, if not the whole 
of New Mexico, To effect this object, and to facilitate 
negotiations for a peace, the president required of con- 
gress that the sum of two millions of dollars (afterwards 
increased to three) should be placed at the disposal of 
the executive sovernment. Towards the close of the 
session of 1846, which continued into the summer of that 
year, a bill was introduced into the house of representa- 
tives granting the president the sum demanded, in pur- 
suance of his recommendation. Previous to this, con- 



70 i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

gress had granted men and money for the purpose of 
prosecuting the Mexican war, to an amount quite as 
large, if not larger, than was asked for by the national 
executive. But when the bill for granting the last sum 
requested by the president was under consideration in 
the house of representatives, Mr. Wilmot, an active and 
resolute member from the state of Pennsylvania, offered 
the following amendment to it, subsequently known as 
the WiLMOT Proviso. 

" Provided, That there shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude in any territory on the continent of America, 
which shall hereafter be acquired by, or annexed to the United 
States, by virtue of this appropriation, or in any other man- 
ner whatsoever, except for crimes, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted. Provided always. That any person es- 
caping into that territory, from whom labor or service is law- 
fully claimed in any one of the United States, such person may 
be lawfully reclaimed and carried out of such territory to the 
person claiming his or her service." 

The object of the recommendation of the president, and 
of the bill as originally drawn, could not be mistaken. 
It was io purchase territory from a foreign government. 
In Mexico neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
was permitted, and the question presented by Mr. Wil- 
mot's proviso was, whether congress should grant money 
to the president for the purpose of purchasing free ter- 
ritory with a view to the establishment of slavery in it. 
The proviso was adopted by the house, every member 
from the state of New York voting for it ; but it was not 
sent to the senate until within a very few days of the 
close of the session. When it came to that house one 
of its members commenced a speech, which he prolong- 
ed, evidently for the purpose of " talking against time," 
to such an extent, that final action on Mr. Wil mot's pro- 



SPEECH OF MR. KING. 706 

viso was rendered impossible, and the bill to which it 
was attached failed of becoming a law during that ses- 
sion. 

On the 4th of January, 1847, during the next session 
of congress, Mr. Preston King, a democratic member of 
congress from the county of St. Lawrence, justly dis- 
tinguished for independence, firmness, and talents, brought 
in a bill granting the money to the president which he 
required, and which contained the Wilmot proviso. 

In explaining his object in introducing the bill, Mr 
King said — 

" Sir, in proposing to introduce that bill, I had no intention 
to interfere with or to anticipate the action of the standing 
committee from which it came to the house at the last session, 
but was governed solely by the desire to bring the subjects 
presented by the provisions of the bill to the early considera- 
tion and action of the house. / The bill embraces two principal 
features — one placing an amount of money at the discretion of 
the president, to be used in negotiating a peace with Mexico, 
if an opportunity shall occur when the president should deern 
it proper to use this money in negotiating a treaty of peace ; 
the other excluding slavery from any territory which the Uni- 
ted States may hereafter acquire, being the provision offered 
by the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Wilmot,] 
and adopted as a part of this peace measure by the house of 
representatives in August last. I will frankly say, that if I had 
not supposed that there was a disposition in some quartern 
silently to give the free principle of the Wilmot proposition 
the go-by, and, by smothering and avoiding action upon it, to 
give further extension to the dominions of slavery at the ex- 
pense of free territory, I should not at this time have brought 
forward this bill. The president recommended, and reiterates 
his recommendation, of a law grantmg the two millions. 

" If coupled with the Wilmot proviso, I would cheerfully 
grant the money. But I would have the free principle of the 
Wilmot proviso enacted into law, whether this bill passes or 



706 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

not. The time has come when tliis republic should declare by 
law th;;t it will not be made an instrument to the extension of 
slavery on the continent of America. That the boundaries, 
institutions, and principles of our republic must and will ex- 
tend, there can be no doubt. The present war with Mexico 
must result in an extension of the territory of the United States. 
A peace, honorable to this country, cannot be concluded with- 
out indemnity from Mexico in territory. It is whispered, that 
it will not do to propo-iC a law that any such tei-ritory should 
be free, becau'^e a southern administration will take no terri- 
tory, unless it shall be so arranged that the territory shall be 
open to slavery. I will not listen to or harbor so monstrous 
an idea. 

"Every inch of Texas was yielded to slavery. I know that 
it was reluctantly yielded to the possession of slavery by many 
who supposed the acquisition of Texas might be hazarded by 
any dissension about the terms so strenuously insisted upon by 
the representatives of the slave states ; but, with Texas, the 
extension of slavery, it was supposed, would stop. It was 
hoped the South would not desire to carry it where it does 
not now exist. Is this so ? The two millions are distinctly, 
urgently, and repeatedly recommended by the president to be 
appropriated. There is no other purpose for which this ap- 
propriation can be wanted except in connection with a cession 
of territory by Mexico. Mexico already owes us unpaid in- 
demnities for acknowledged and adjudicated spoliations on our 
commerce. I repeat, we must have territory from Mexico ; 
and there can be no harm or impropriety in stating what cir- 
cumstances and every action of our government proclaim to 
the world as clearly and as unerringly as words could do. 

" Shall the territory now free which shall come to our ju- 
risdiction be free territory, open to settlement by the laboring 
man of the free states, or shall it be slave territory, given up 
to slave labor ? One or other it must be ; it cannot be both. 
The labor of the free white men and women, and of their chil- 
dren, cannot, and will not, eat and drink, and lie down, and 
rise up, with the black labor of slaves ; free white labor will 



1846.] SPEECH OF MR. KING. 707 

not be degraded by such association. If slavery is not exclu- 
ded by law, the presence of the slave will exclude the laboring 
white man. The vounor men who went with their axes into the 
forests, and heaved out of the wilderness such states as Ohio, 
and Indiana, and Michigan, and Illinois, and Iowa, and Wis- 
consin, would never have consented, in the workshops or in 
the held, to be coupled with negro slaves. These powerful 
commonwealths have sprung up in the great West within the 
memory of a single generation — free, populous, and flourish- 
ing, by the wisdom of the legislation of the men of the Rev- 
olution. One act of this government did more for them than 
all other acts of legislation. It was the ordinance of July, 1787, 
by which slavery and involuntary servitude, except for crime, 
was forever prohibited in all the territory of the United States 
north and west of the Ohio river. The brave and patriotic 
generation who achieved our independence, and established 
the republic, did not hesitate about passing such an act. They 
thus saved these now populous and powerful states from the 
evils of slavery and a black population. 

" Shall we hesitate to do the same thing for territory where 
slavery does not now exist ? I trust not. The man who has 
wealth or credit to purchase a plantation, and become the 
owner of slaves, may settle and reside without social degrada- 
tion in a country where slavery exists. Not so with the labor- 
ing white man. He cannot go without social degradation, and 
he therefore will not go. He is excluded quite as effectually 
as he could be by law. The mere presence of slavery, wher- 
ever it exists, degrades the condition, the respectability, the 
character of labor. A false and mischievous public opinion 
regarding the condition and respectability of labor is produced 
by its presence ; and false and recreant to his race and to his 
constituency would be any representative of free white men 
and women, who should by his vote place free white labor upon 
a condition of social equality with the labor of the black slave ; 
equally false would he be who, upon any pretence, should, by 
inaction and evasion of the question, produce the same degra- 
ding result. 



708 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

" The measure which I had tlie honor to propose, presented 
this subject to the house. I cannot, and of course do not, 
claim any originahty in the principles of the bill ; one feature 
of which comes from the earnest recommendation of the pres- 
ident in his special message to congress of the last session ; 
the other from the motion of my friend from Pennsylvania, 
[Mr. Wilmot,] and the adoption of his pi'oposition by the house, 
when the bill was considered and passed. The measure is 
again, in the annual message of the president at the opening 
of the present session, strongly recommended to the favorable 
attention of congress. The history of the measure is known 
to the house and the country. It passed the house of repre- 
sentatives at the last session, late on Saturday night next pre- 
ceding Monday, the 10th of August, on which day congress 
had decided to adjourn at twelve o'clock at noon. Many other 
important bills were still pending in the senate, to be decided 
in the forenoon of Monday, and this bill, taken up in the last 
hour of the session of the senate, did not receive the final ac- 
tion of a vote upon its passage, but was lost by not having been 
voted upon, and without the decision of the senate. This 
measure, in a time of war, is recommended by the president, 
and should be acted on by congress as a peace measure, and 
is evidence to the country and to the world, that however vig- 
orously it may be deemed just and proper to prosecute the war, 
while war, or cause of war, exists, still the desire for honora- 
ble peace is a sentiment strong as ever Avith our gov-ernment ; 
and this measure, recommended by the president, is evidence 
that no intention exists, in negotiating a peace, to demand 
terms other than such as are honorable both to this country 
and to Mexico. 

" Of the causes of the war, or the manner in which it com- 
menced, it would scarcely be proper for me now to speak ; even 
if it were, these topics have been discussed at very considerable 
length by those much more able to elucidate them than I am. 
I am one of those who believe a war with Mexico was inevita- 
ble after the annexation of Texas (upon the terms selected by 
President Tyler) should be consummated. Whether the alter- 



SPEECH OF MR. KING. 709 

native mode presented by congress, or any other mode or terms, 
would have avoided war, it is now, perhaps, useless to inquire. 
The annexation of Texas to the United States was believed to 
be desired by the people of both countries ; and Texas was 
annexed. The right of annexation by two independent nations 
cannot be questioned. But to obtain possession of Tamaulipas 
and Chihuahua, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, where 
the Mexicans held disputed possession, and to get Santa Fe, 
where the Mexican authorities and people held undisputed pos- 
session, the use of force was necessary. The nse of force be- 
tween nations, to decide a disagreement between them, is war, 
" The use of force and of military power was necessary, I 
repeat, to expel the Mexican authorities from all of these prov- 
inces claimed by Texas, unless Mexico should cede them by 
negotiation. But Mexico not only refused to abandon Tamau- 
lipas and Chihuahua, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, 
and Santa Fe, on the north of Texas, but she even asserted a 
claim upon Texas itself ; and declared that the annexation of 
Texas to the United States would be regarded by her as an 
act of war on the part of the United States against Mexico. 
When measures for the annexation of Texas were adopted by 
0U3- government, Mexico withdrew her minister from Washing- 
ton, refused to renew negotiations, and prepared to wage war. 
In the valley of the Rio Grande, on the Texan side of that 
river, the armies of the two nations met, hostilities commenced, 
and actual war was waged. There can be no doubt of what 
is the dutv of every good citizen of the United States in a state 
of war. The enemies of his country should be his enemies ; 
her friends his friends. A cordial support and vigorous pros- 
ecution of the war should be sustained while the war lasts. 
The war should be terminated whenever an honorable peace 
can be obtained, and not before. 

" The bill which I proposed, and still propose to introduce, 
looks to such a termination of the wiir. Wliile its first feature 
— the two million appropriation — more clearly discloses what 
ii would be in vain to deny, or attempt to conceal, that the 
acquisition of territory, at leist oi tlie Californias and New 

tiO 



710 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Mexico, as an indemnity for the war, as well as for previous 
wrongs and injuries against our government and citizens, will 
be insisted upon by the government of the United States, but 
upon terms liberal and honorable to Mexico, it contains also a 
principle, in the provision proposed by my friend from Penn- 
sylvania, more important than the war itself; a principle with 
which Mexico, in arranging her terms of peace has nothing to 
do, and witli which I do not understand that it is proposed by 
anybody she should have any thing to do. It is no subject 
of treaty stipulation, unless the treaty-making powei's of the 
tAVO governments shall, of their own free will, choose to make 
it so. It is a question purely our own, and pertaining ex- 
clusively to the United States. This principle excludes sla- 
very from any territory which may hereafter be added to this 
country. This principle 1 deem to be of vital importance, and 
should be very much gratified if it could receive the unani- 
mous assent and approbation of congress. This, however, I do 
not expect. The same interest which pertinaciously insisted 
upon extending slavery over Texas, still desires, I apprehend, 
its further extension. This should not be so. For the exist- 
ence of slavery in the United States, the government of the 
republic is not responsible. It was planted heie while the 
country was colonies of Great Britain ; and its existence or 
continuance is not a question for the govei-nment of the Union ; 
it belongs exclusively to each state for itself. 

" Tlie bill proposed presents no question of abolitionism. It 
is the antagonist of abolitionism, denying any constitutional 
power in the federal government to meddle in any way with 
the existence of slavery within the limits of a state. No free 
state in the Union has ever held or asserted the right or 
authority of the federal government to abolish or interfere 
with slavery in any state. But while every free state has 
always maintained, and stands ready to maintain, the consti- 
tution and all its compromises, it cannot be supposed that the 
people of the free states will approve the exertion of the 
power of the federal government to extend indediiiteiy the 
institution of slavery over territory which is now free. With 



SPEECH OF MR. KING. 711 

tlie abolition of slavery the congress of the Union can have 
nothing to do; but it wo\ild be an equally wide departure 
from the constitution, and from every sound principle upon 
which our republican institutions are founded, that the gov- 
ernment of the United States should be instrumental in ex- 
tending slavery in any direction, or in converting free territory 
into slave territory. To avoid this result, it is necessary that 
congress shall provide by law against the existence of slavery 
in any territory which hereafter may become the territory of 
the United States, and which shall not be included within the 
limits of a state. Whenever any territory shall have obtained 
population sufficient for the formation of a state government, 
and shall have formed a state constitution, and been admitted 
into the Union as a state, then the responsibility of the federal 
government on the question of slavery, for that territory and 
people, thus admitted as a state, ceases. 

" Then, say they who oppose the enactment of the Wilmot 
proviso. Why not let the question alone, and leave it to the 
states and the people themselves to determine whether the 
state shall be a slave state or a free state "? This inquiry and 
reasoning is specious and plausible ; but the simplest examina- 
tion on the principles of common sense will show that it is 
unsound and false. If left alone, slaves more or less will be 
carried to the new territory, and if the country while it re- 
mains a territory should be settled by a population holding 
slaves, the new and additional question of abolition is present- 
ed, and in order to get a free state slavery must first be 
abolished. This embarrassment in a new community, without 
means to indemnify the owners, would be an obstacle almost 
insurmountable, and the new state would be veiy^ far from 
being free to choose between becoming a free state or a slave 
state. On the contrary, if the country, while it remains a 
territory, shall be settled by a free population, from which 
slavery is excluded, then, when a state government is formed, 
the state and the people would be unembarrassed by any 
pecuniary interests or questions of vested right, and be free to 
decide whether the state should be a free state or a slave 



712 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

state. In order, then, to secure this freedom of choice to the 
state and to the people, slavery must be excluded from the 
country while it shall be a territory, and until it shall become 
a state. 

" But I will not pursue the subject now. It must be obvious 
to all, as I think it will be acknowledged by all, that the 
character of the population in the territory will determine the 
character of the state, when that territory shall be erected 
into a state?! If the territory has a slave population of only 
one-fourth or one-fifth of the whole number, it will be a slave 
state. If a free population while a territory, it will be a free 
state. Exclude slavery from all territory not within the limits 
of a state, and 1 am willing the territory shall determine for 
itself, when it becomes a state, what shall be its character. 
Many of the states in which slavery existed when the Union 
was formed have abolished the institution. No instance of 
any one of the states from which slavery has been excluded, 
can be found where the state or the people have determined 
to introduce slaves. If congress shall refuse, at this session, 
to make this free principle a law, the arms of the republic will 
conquer free territory upon which slavery will be planted. I 
desire the adoption of the free principle, because I believe it 
to be just to the free states, just to the white men who fight 
our battles, and who constitute the strength of the country in 
peace or war ; because I believe it to be consistent with the 
principles of our government ; and because I believe it will 
tend to improve the condition and character of labor in the 
whole country. And who will deny that, in a reptiblic, it 
should be one of the chief objects of government to elevate 
and dignify the condition and character of labor ? Unless 
this measure shall be brought before the house by a commit- 
tee, or in some other way, I shall continue to urge the bill J 
proposed yesterday upon the attention of the house." 

Mr. King might have added, that he and the friends 
who acted with him. h;id r^ujiported. by their speeches 
and votes, the grant ot" the most liberal sums of money 



RESOLUTIONS OF N. YORK LEGISLATURE. 713 

to defray the expenses of prosecuting the war with Mex- 
ico, and that they should continue to do so until an hon- 
orable peace was obtained ; but that the grant of money 
for the purchase of free territory, with the intent of estab- 
lishing slavery in it, presented another and an entirely 
different question. 

The bill containing the Wilmot proviso again passed 
the house, but the proviso was struck out in the senate, 
and the bill finally passed without it. All the members 
of the house of representatives from the state of New 
York, save one, voted for the proviso. 

While this question was before congress, the follow- 
ing resolutions passed both houses of the legislature of 
the state of New York, by the votes of nearly all the 
members. Those who voted against the resolutions 
were, we believe, all hunkers, except Mr. Flanders from 
Franklin, whom we have before noticed as a member of 
the Syracuse Convention : 

" Resolved, That if any territory is hereafter acquired by 
the United States, or annexed thereto, the act by which such 
territory is acquired or annexed, whatever such act may be, 
should contain an unalterable, fundamental article or provision, 
whereby slavery, or involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime, shall be forever excluded from the territory 
acquired or annexed. 

" Resolved, That the senators in congress from this state be 
instructed, and that the representatives in congress from this 
state be requested, to use their best efforts to carry into effect 
the views expressed in the foregoing resolution." 

Some of the hunker presses, it is true, took ground 
against the proviso ; but it is worthy of remark, that all 
of them, so far as we recollect, admitted that the prin- 
ciple involved in the proviso was correct, and that when 
congress should legislate on the subject of the territories 

60* 



714 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

which might be acquired by treaty, a provision, similar 
to that contained in the proviso, ought to be enacted. 

Mr. Wright had not left Albany when these resolu- 
tions were before the legislature. He declared his cor- 
dial approbation of them. It has been suspected, that as 
Mr. King was the personal and political friend of Mr. 
Wright, his action in congress on the subject of the pro- 
viso was prompted by Gov. Wright. But however 
much Mr. King respected the opinions and confided in 
the judgment of Mr. Wright, he is not the man to act 
under the influence or promptings of any man. Besides, 
we have satisfactory assurances that Mr. Wright was 
entirely ignorant of Mr. King's intention to agitate the 
question in congress, until he read his published speech. 

On the subject of the proviso, Mr. Wright, in a letter 
to Mr. J. H. Titus, of New York, written in the month 
of April of that year, uses this strong and emphatic lan- 
guage : , 

" If the question had been propounded to me, at any period 
of my public life—' Shall the arms of the Union be employ- 
ed to conquer, or the money of the Union be used to purchase 
territory now constitutionally free, for the purpose of planting 
slavery upon it' — I should have answered, No ! And this an- 
swer to this question is the Wilmot proviso, as I understand it. 
I am surprised that any one should suppose me capable of en- 
tertaining any other opinion, or giving any other answer, to 
such a proposition." 

Mr. D. S. Dickinson, the United States senator from 
this state, voted against the Wilmot proviso, notwith- 
standing the legislative resolutions we have copied ; 
and, what is somewhat singular, made a speech, in which 
he attempted to convince the senate and the public that 
his vote was in conformity to the instructions ■_)[ the 



LETTER FROM COL. HINMAN. 715 

New York legislature, as expressed in the resolutions 
above set forth ! 

Bad weather, the want of snow to facilitate travelling 
in sleighs, and some business concerns, detained Gov. 
Wright longer in Albany, during the winter of 1847, 
than he had intended. He did not leave there until 
some time in the month of February, when his friends 
at Albany took an affectionate leave of him, Alas ! 
they did not know, and therefore could not realize, that 
they were never again to meet him on earth — that this 
was their final and last parting. Our blindness to the 
future is one of the wisest and most benevolent provis- 
ions of Providence. " Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof." 

A description of the plain and simple manner in which 
Gov. Wrio-ht travelled on his return home, will be 
found in the following letter, written to the author, and 
at his request, by a highly respectable, old, and uniform 
political and personal friend of the late governor. 

"UxiCA, Feb. 17, 1848. 
" Dear Sir — la pursuance of the request contiiiaed in your 
letter, it gives me great pleasure to state, that I was first in- 
troduced to Gov. Wright at Middlebury, in Vermont, in the 
year 1815, when, I believe, he was a member of the college in 
that town. I saw no more of him until he was elected to the 
senate of tliis state, and took liis seat in that body, in tlie year 
1824. From that time until the year 1846 we were very in- 
timate, communicating with each other without the least re- 
serve, and using perfect and unrestrained liberty in every 
thinor which passed between us. And I can with truth and 
sincerity say, I thought more of that man than any man living. 
I never found a man more devoted to what he believed to be 
the true interests of his country, and of the people, than Silas 
Wright. He was always for preferring and serving his politi- 



71G LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

cal friends, but he never indulged this desire to oblige either 
political or personal friends at the hazard of the public weal, 
or the sacrifice of the interests of the masses. 

" Gov. Wright, on his return to Canton, in the winter of 1846 — 
alas ! it was his last — passed through Utica. He, with his wife, 
arrived here in the cars about two o'clock in the afternoon. I 
met him at Bagg's hotel, and expressed to hira a very earnest 
desire that he should remain overnight, as thei-e were many 
of his friends in Utica who wished to visit him that evening ; 
but having been detained much longer in Albany than he had 
anticipated, he replied, that he could not spare the time, and 
immediately hired a farmer by the name of Henry Neger, to 
take him and his biiiru'aixc in a lumber sleio-Ji to Canton. Du- 
ring his short stay in Utica he visited our lunatic asylum, and 
while he was gone the farmer and myself arranged his bag- 
gage — consisting of boxes, trunks, and a few fine farming tools, 
with which his friends at Albany had presented him — so as to 
make room for himself and wife to sit on the top of the load, 
as conveniently as we could. In this way the late governor 
left Utica, about five o'clock on the same afternoon he arrived 
there. This was the last time I ever saw my friend. I was 
afterwards informed by Mr. Neger, that the governor and his 
lady passed the night at his house, about four miles fi'om this 
city, and after readjusting their baggage, they started the next 
morning about five o'clock, and on tlie third day arrived at 
Canton, all safe and in good order. Mrs. Wright carried a 
bird, in a cage, in her lap the whole distance. 

" In tliis unostentatious and plain manner did that man travel, 
on wliom the hearts of millions were at that moment fixed for 
the hiuhest and most honorable office in America, (may I not 
say in the world ?) and for whom, without distinction of party, 
the merchants of the greatest city in America were preparing 
a service of gorgeous plate, fit an expense of from eighteen to 
twenty thousand dollars, to be presented to him in testimony 
of their respect for his talents and patriotism, and their grati- 
tude for the services he had rendered our beloved country. 



CHICAGO CONVENTION. 717 

" I rejoice, my dear sir, to learn that we have one man who 
is disposed to perpetuate the name and fame of our great and 
good man, Silas Wright. 

" I am, with great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" John E. Hinman. 
" To Jabez D. Hammond, Esq." 

We regret that our limits do not permit us to copy 
the whole letter of Col. Hinman, for it contains a stri- 
kinsr instance of the firmness and indomitable resolution 
of Mr. Wright in resisting the blandishments, as well as 
the threats of the organized lobby, which in 1826 made 
a rush upon the senate, as we have heretofore related,* 
to force through that house some dozen bank charters 
which had passed the assembly. 

At the latter part of the long session of congress, in 
1846^ a bill had passed making appropriations to the 
amount of more than a million of dollars, to be expended 
chiefly in improving the harbors on the western lakes, 
and removing obstructions from rivers which might be 
rendered navigable. This bill was vetoed by the presi- 
dent, on the ground that the objects for which the mo- 
ney was to be raised were not recognised by the consti- 
tution, and on the ground that the money appropriated 
by the bill was necessarily required to defray the expen- 
ses of the war with Mexico. The veto produced con- 
siderable excitement against the president, especially in 
the western states and territories. 

This excitement occasioned the call of a national 
convention of the friends of those improvements at 
Chicago, which was invited to meet on the fourth day 
of July. 



* See Chap. III. 



718 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

A most respectable committee was organized, who 
addressed letters of invitation to many of the distin- 
guished men in the eastern, middle, and western states. 
Among other statesmen, Mr. Wright was invited to at- 
tend. His engagements prevented him from complying 
with the invitation. Courtesy, as well as universal cus- 
tom, required of him a written reply to this invitation. 
Here then was an opportunity for an individual who 
had, by the expressed voice of a large portion of the 
people of the United States, been declared their first 
choice for chief magistrate of the Union, to throw 
out some lures to that great assemblage of highly influ- 
ential men — coming from the east, the north, and the 
west, and, nideed, from the south, intent on the greai 
project of the improvement of the harbors on our lakes, 
and the navigation of our rivers — to induce them to 
believe that he was the champion who would lead 
them on to a triumphant accomplishment of their mag- 
nificent projects. Does Silas Wright attempt this in his 
answer ? Far from it. True, he evinces his conviction 
of the importance and utility of the projected improve- 
ment, and expresses an opinion that it is the duty of the 
general s^overnment to construct those works which are 
of national importance ; but he more than intimates that 
those improvements which are for the benefit of locali- 
ties, and not national in their character, should not be 
undertaken ; and he proposes that congress should act 
separately and independently upon all applications, so 
that each case should stand on its own merits. This 
mode of proceeding, if adopted, would effectually pre- 
vent, so far as any general rule of action can prevent, 
all those formidable combinations, vulgarly, but very sig- 



LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 719 

nificantly called " log-rolling," so pernicious to judicious, 
just, and fair legislation. 

So obviously correct are the principles laid down by 
Mr. Wright in his answer to the committee, that several 
respectable public meetings, in this and other states in 
the Union, have declared their approbation of his views ; 
and that they were in favor of improvements by the 
general government, according to the principles set 
forth by Mr. Wright in the letter to which we have al- 
luded. We therefore think it our duty to present the 
following entire copy of that letter : 

"Canton, May 31, 1847, 
" Gentlemen : — Your circular inviting me to attend " a 
Northwestern Harbor and River Convention," to be assembled 
at Chicago on the 1st Monday of July next, was duly received, 
forwarded by Mr. Whiting, of your committee. My attention 
had been previously called to the same subject by the invita- 
tion of a friend at your city, to attend the convention, and gen- 
erously tendering me quarters in his family during its sitting. 
I was forced, from the state of private business, to inform him 
that I could not make the journey at the time named, and the 
period which has elapsed since I declined his invitation, has 
only tended to confirm the conclusion pronounced to him. 
Were it possible for me to attend the proposed convention, 
without an unreasonable sacrifice, I should most gladly do so, 
as my location gives me a strong feeling in reference to the 
prosperity and safety of the commerce of the lakes. The sub- 
ject of the improvement of the lake harbors is one which my 
service in congress has rendered somewhat familiar to me in a 
legislative aspect, while my personal travel upon the two low- 
er lakes has made the necessity for these improvements mani- 
fest to my senses. I am aware that questions of constitutional 
power have been raised in reference to appropriations of money 
by congress for the improvement of the lake harbors, and I am 
well convinced that honest men have sincerely entertained 



720 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

Strong scruples upon this point ; but all my observations and 
experience have induced me to believe that these scruples, 
where the individual admits the power to improve the Atlan- 
tic harbors, arise from the want of an acquaintance with the 
lakes, and the commerce upon them, and an inability to be- 
lieve the facts in relation to that commerce, when truly stated. 
" It is not easy for one familiar with the lakes and the lake 
commerce, to realize the degree of incredulity, as to the mag- 
nitude and importance of both, which is found in the minds of 
honest and well-informed men, residing in remote portions of 
the Union, and having no personal acquaintance with either ; 
while I do not recollect an instance of a member of congress, 
who has travelled the lakes and observed the commerce upon 
them, within the last ten years, requiring any further evidence 
or argument to induce him to admit the constitutional power, 
and the propriety of appropriations for the lake harbors, as 
much as for those of the Atlantic coast. I have long been of 
the opinion, therefore, that to impress the minds of the people 
of all portions of the Union with a realizing sense of the facts 
as they are, in relation to these inland seiis, and their already 
vast and rapidly increasing commerce, would be all that is re- 
quired to secui'e such appropriations as the state of the na- 
tional treasury will from time to time permit, for the impiove- 
ment of the lake harbors. I mean the improvement of such 
h-irbors as the body of the lake commerce requires for its con- 
venience and safety, as contradistinguished from the numerous 
applications for these improvements which the various compe- 
ting local interests upon the shores may prompt ; and I make 
this distinction, because my own observation has shown that 
applications for harbor impro^•enu;nts, at the public expense, 
are made and passed, within distance of a very few miles, and 
lit locations where, from the natural position of the lake and 
c^ast, a good harbor at either point would secure to the com- 
merce of the lakes all the convenience and safety of duplicate 
improvements. Much of the difHcnUy of obtaining appropria- 
tions grows out of these contlicting applications, and the stern- 
ness with which all are pressed as necessary to the lake com- 



LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 721 

merce, impairs the confidence of strangers to the local claims 
and interests, in the importance of all. 

" It is the duty of those who urge these improvements for 
the great objects for which alone they should be made at the 
expense of the nation, viz., the convenience and safety of the 
lake commerce, to be honest with congress, and to urge ap- 
propriations at points where these considerations demand them. 
The river improvements constitute a much more difficult sub- 
ject, and the connection of them with the lake harbors has 
often, to my knowledge, fafcilly prejudiced the former. There 
are applications for improvements of rivers, about which, as a 
matter of principle and constitutional power, I have no more 
doubt than about the harbors upon the lakes, or the Atlantic 
coast ; and there are those which, in my judgment, come 
neither within the principle nor the constitutional power ; but 
to draw a line between the two classes of cases, I cannot. I 
have witnessed numerous attempts to do this, but none of 
them have appeared to be very sound, or very practical. The 
facts and circumstances are so variant between the various 
applications, that I doubt whether any general rule can be laid 
down which will be found just and practical ; and 1 think the 
course most likely to secure a satisfactory result, with the least 
dan'rer of a violation of principle, woidd be for congress to act 
separately and independently upon each application. There 
has appeared to me to be one broad distinction between these 
ciises which has not always been regarded, but which I think 
always should be. It is between the applications to protect 
and secm-e the safety of commerce upon rivers, where it ex- 
ists and is regularly carried on in defiance of the obstructions 
sought to be removed, and in the face of the dangers they 
place in its way, and those apphcations which ask for improve- 
ment of rivers, that commerce may be extended upon them, 
where it is not. The one class appear to me to ask congress 
to regulate and protect commerce upon rivers where commerce 
in fact exists, and the others to create it upon rivers where it 
does not exist. This distinction, if carefully observed, might 
aid in determining some appUcation of both classes ; but it is not 

61 



722 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT 

a sufficient dividing line for practical legislation, if it is for 
the settlement of the principle upon which all such appli- 
cations should rest. I use the term ' commerce' in this defi- 
nition, as I do in this letter, in its constitutional sense and 
scope. 

" i must ask your pardon, gentlemen, for troubling you with 
so long and hasty a communication, in reply to your note. It 
i-' not made for any public use, but to express to you, very 
imperfectly, some of my views upon the interesting subjects 
you bring to rav notice, whicli I shall not have the pleasure of 
communicating in person, — and to satisfy you tliat I am not 
indifferent to your request. 

" Be pleased to accept my thanks for your polite inntation, 
and believe me, 

" Your very respectful and ob't serv't, 

" Silas Wright. 

" Messrs. J. N. Judd and others, Committee, &c." 

The state agricultural fair for 1847 was ordered to be 
held at Saratoga Springs in the month of September, 
and Mr. Wright was appointed to deliver the address to the 
society on that occasion. He accepted the appointment, 
and prepared an address, which he completed on the even- 
ing before his death. This was his last public commu- 
nication. He died before the day appointed for the fair. 
The address, nevertheless, at the special request of the 
managers, was read to the society, and to the immense 
audience congregated at that magnificent exhibition, by 
Gen. Dix. That gentleman, before reading the address, 
submitted some brief but appropriate and impressive re- 
marks on the character, services, talents, and lamented 
death of its author, in his happiest and best style and 
manner. 

The traits of the philosophical and great mind of Gov. 
Wright are visible in every line of this address. It has 



ADDRESS FOR THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 723 

been published and extensively circulated, and ought 
to be, and, it is presumed, has been, generally read. 

The mutual connection and dependence of agricul- 
ture, commerce, and manufactures, with and upon each 
other, is shown in the address with that clearness \\ hich 
distinguishes all he ever wrote or uttered. 

" The agriculture of our state," says Gov. Wright, " far as 
it yet is from maturity and perfection, has already become an 
art, a science, a profession, in which he who would instruct 
must be first himself instructed far beyond the advancement 
of him who now addresses you. 

" The pervading character of this great and vital interest, 
however ; its intimate connection with the wants, comforts, and 
interests of every man in every employment and calling in life ; 
and its controlling relations to the commerce, manufactures, 
substantiid independence, and general health and prosperity 
of our whole people, present abundant subjects for contem- 
plation upon occasions like this, without attempting to explore 
the depths, or to define the principles of a science so profound, 
and, to the uninitiated, so difficult, as is that of agriculture. 

" Agricultural production is the substratum of the whole 
superstructure — the great element which spreads the sail and 
impels the car of commerce, and moves the hands and turns 
the machinery of manufacture. The earth is the common mo- 
ther of all, in whatever employment engaged ; and the frruts 
gathered from its bosom are alike the indispensable nutriment 
and support of all. The productions of its surface and the 
treasures of its mines, are the material upon which the labor 
of the agriculturist, the merchant, and the manufacturer, are 
alike bestowed, and are the prize for which all alike toil. 

" The active stimulus which urges all forward, excites in- 
dustry, awakens ingenuity, and brings out invention, is the 
prospect or hope of a market for the productions of their la- 
bor. The farmer produces to sell ; the merchant purchases 
to sell ; and the manufacturer fabricates to sell. Self-con- 
siimption of their respective goods, although an indispensable 



724 LIFE OF SILAS .WRIGHT. 

necessity of life, is a mere incident in the; mind impelled to ac- 
quisition. To gain that which is not produced or required, by 
the sale of that which is possessed, is the great struggle of 
laboring man." 

In the course of his remarks he shows that the agri- 
cultural productions of this country exceed the demand 
for consumption by its inhabitants ; and that such is the 
extent of our territory, and its fertility, that if the ground 
is properly cultivated, and its productive powers fully 
put in requisition, considering the vast quantity of un- 
cultivated land contained in the national domain, a large 
surplus for an indefinite period of time to come, may 
and ought to be raised for foreign exportation ; and he 
concludes by saying — 

" The prospect in future is full of cheering promise. We 
see in it the strongest possible security for our beloved coun- 
try, through an indefinite period, against the scourge of famine. 
Our varied soil and climate and agriculture double this secuii- 
ty, as the disease and failure of any one crop Avill not, as a 
necessary consequence, reduce any class of our population to 
an exposure to death from hunger. We see also, in addition 
to feeding ourselves, that our surplus is almost, if not alto- 
gether, sufficient, if faithfully and prudently applied, even 
now to drive famine from the length and breadth of Europe; 
and that it is in our power, by faithful mental and physical 
application, soon to make it equal to the expulsion of hunger 
from the commercial world. We see that, dependent upon 
the commercial markets, our agriculture may bring upon our 
country a high degree of prosperity, and enable us, when ex- 
traordinary occasions shall call for its exercise, to practise a 
national benevolence as grateful to the hearts of the humane 
as to the wants of the destitute. And we see that, by the 
wider diffusion and more secure establishment of a successful 
agriculture among our citizens, ;!s a permanent employment, 
we are laying broader and deeper the foundations of our free 



RESOLUTIONS OF STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 72 



t'Z.y 



institutions, the pride and glory of our country, and prized by 
its freemen as their richest earthly blessing ; the history of all 
civil governments, confirmed by the experience of this repub- 
lic, furnishing demonstrative proof that A well-educated, 

INDUSTRIOUS, AND INDEPENDENT YEOMANRY ARE THE SAFEST 
REPOSITORY OF FREEDOM AND FREE INSTITUTIONS." 

These were the last words addressed by Silas Wright 
to his fellow-citizens. They are worthy of the states- 
man and patriot who uttered them. How deeply ought 
they to sink into the hearts of his countrymen ! 

After the reading of the address had been concluded, 
the Hon. John A. King, of Queens county, offered the 
following resolution — 

" Resolved, That the eloquent address which has just been 
read, be printed ; and that the president be requested to ask 
the peiTnission of Mrs. Wright to retain the original draft of 
the address, to be placed in the archives of the society ; and 
to express to her at the same time the deep sympathy and 
regret whicli is felt by all its members for the irreparable loss 
which has so suddenly overwhelmed herself and the state in a 
common grief." 

Lewis F. Allen, Esq., on seconding the motion to 
adopt Mr. King's resolution, moved the following reso- 
lutions — 

" Resolved, That in the death of Silas Wright, late governor 
of this state, the New York State Agricultural Society have 
lost a friend, benefactor, and honored and useful member, and 
the community an illustrious example of republican simplicity 
in private, as well as of inflexible honesty and great capacity 
in public life. 

" Resolved, That a committee of this society be appointed 
by the president thereof, to prepare a brief memoir illustra- 
tive of his character, his virtues, and his eminent public ser- 
vices, for publication with the address delivered on this occa- 

61* 



726 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

sion, in 'their transactions for the year 184Y, — a duty the more 
gratefully performed, as the last public act of his life was one 
of beneficence to the farmers of his country." 

These resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

After Mr. Wright returned to Canton he devoted 
himself entirely to the cultivation of his little farm ; and 
all that part of his tinie v- hich was not occupied in 
answering the letters oi' his friends and in carrying on 
his correspondence, which was now extended through 
the Union, was employed in actual manual labor. His 
habits were the same as in the first part of this work we 
have described them, unchanged and unchangeable. 
He was the same kind neighbor, the same judicious and 
wise mentor to all, whether in high or low life, who 
consulted him, the same unpretending and quiet citizen ; 
and the sick and dying again saw him watching at their 
bedside in the gloom of night ; they again saw his placid 
countenance, beaming with benevolence, bending over 
them, and heard him whisper words of hope and comfort. 
We shall not repeat or attempt to amplify what we have 
written on that subject. But an intelligent and highly 
respected neighbor and friend, a gentleman who not 
only possesses a mind richly stored with the choicest 
literature, but who is a practical man and looks deeply 
into the human character, who visited Gov. Wright but 
a few days before his death, has favored the author with 
a letter in which the residence of the late governor and 
the village in which it is situated is so graphically de- 
scribed, and the great man himself exhibited to us by a 
portraiture so truthful and yet so vivid, that we have 
obtained his consent for its publication, and we now 
have the pleasure of presenting it to our readers — 



LETTER FROM O. A. MORSE, ESa. 727 

" Cherry Valley, March 3], 1848. 

" Dear Sir — In reply to your note, requesting me to give 
vou an account of a call I made on the late Gov. Wright, last 
summer, at his residence in Canton, I send you the follow- 
ino- statement, in the hope that it may be of some interest, so 
far as it shows the habits and mode of life at home of that 
eminent man. 

" Canton is a ver}^ remote, inaccessible village. The routes 
to it, na Oswego or Montreal, about foiu- hundred miles in 
length from Albany, are often preferred to the stage route 
from Rome, in length from Albany about two hundred miles. 
The village contains about eio-ht hmidred inhabitants, and is 
built in the plainest manner, with little of that display of 
architecture which is usually to be seen in like villages, par- 
ticularly in the western counties of the state. The manners 
and style of living of the citizens I should judge to be equally 
unpretending. Gov. Wright's is a small wooden house, situ- 
ated directly in the village, as common in its outward appear- 
ance, in every respectj as the dwellings of his neighbors. 

•' I was there one sultry day in June last, and on inquiring 
for the sfovernor, was told that he was on his farm at work. 
1 went to him, and found him hoeing in a field of potatoes. 
In his dress as well as occupation he looked in every particu- 
lar the common laboring farmer. He paused from his work as 
I addressed him, and leaning on his hoe, and wiping from his 
face the perspiration caused by an intensely hot sim, received 
me with his usual ease and propriety of manner and language. 
Elegance of speech from Gov. Wright, in Albany or Wash- 
ington, was not to be wondered at, but I must say, that in the 
course of his conversation, in spite of my previous knowledge 
of the man, I was in a measure surprised to hear it from him 
as he then stood before me, apparently a laboring farmer, in 
a lonely field, near the verge of the northern wilderness, with 
the tools and evidence of unostentatious and hard toil around 
him. He directed his "remarks chiefly to the object of my 
visit to the county, and when talking, would occasionally make 
a few strokes with his hoe, so that while I was with him he 
finished one or two hills of potatoes in the most thorough 



728 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

manner, carefully pulling out the quack with his fingers, and 
extirpating every thistle and weed. He said that his farm con- 
tained between one and two hundred acres, that he usually la- 
bored with his men, but did not accompany them that morning 
because he could not suffer the potatoes longer to be neglected. 
" During the summer of 1844 I had heard of Governor 
Wright's habit of laboring on his farm, and I had supposed 
that he indulged in it occasionally only for recreation and ex- 
ercise, hke many other gentlemen living in the country, but in 
this interview I was satisfied that he was emphatically a far- 
mer in the common way, laboring daily and all day, and shun- 
ning none of the drudgery and toil of the business. I was con- 
^'inced, also, by my own observations and by the remarks of his 
townsmen, that this practice was not adopted for effect abroad, 
and that it would be absurd as well as unjust to suspect him 
of so unworthy a motive. It is not uncommon for statesmen 
to retire from office to agriculture, but they have always, I be- 
lieve, Hke Lord Bolingbroke, attempted to adorn and magnify 
the business by a parade of philosophy, or else have solaced 
themselves in their retreat with the refinements and luxuries of 
wealth. We may read, indeed, of statesmen putting off the 
robes and etiquette of office for the dress and manners of the 
artisan and farmer, in rmaffected contentment and peace, 
thouo-h I am sure it has been commonly thought that the pic- 
ture was a fable ; or if ever a fact, that it must have been so 
only in the barbarous and primitive days of Roman or Grecian 
virtue ; but here I saw it before me in reality, and though I am 
not incUned to hero worship, I was impressed with the thought 
that I was witnessing a scene which the poets and philoso- 
phers of the world have always admired as exhibiting exalted, 
though they may have believed it to be ideal, integrity and 
greatness of soul. Gov. Wright that day, when laboring in 
that obscure field, was perhaps the most conspicuous man in 
America, and the contrast the fact affords, in popular estima- 
tion, must tend to give peculiar and historical interest to his 

character. 

•• 1 am ti-uly yours, 0. A. Morse. 

" Hon. J. D. Hammo.nd." 



HIS LOVE OF RET[REMENT. 729 

Let Governor Wright himself tell us how highly he 
enjoyed this quiet and retired life. In his letter to Gov. 
Fairfield, of Maine, dated at Canton the 11th August, 
but sixteen days before his death, he says : — 

" If I were to attempt to tell you how happy we make our- 
selves at our retired home, I fear you would scarcely be able 
to credit me. I even yet realize, every day and every hour, 
the relief from public cares and perplexities and responsibili- 
ties, and if any thought about temporal affairs could make me 
more uneasy than another, it would be the serious one that I 
was again to take upon myself, in any capacity, that ever- 
pressing load. I am not, however, troubled with any such 
thought, and am only occasionally a little vexed that I am 
constantly suspected of cherishing further vain and unreason- 
able ambition."* 



* Since this chapter was written the author received the follow- 
ing beautiful paragraph, coniposed by Gov. Wright after his return to 
Canton, for the amuseineut and instruction, and at the request of his 
uiece, then less than thirteen years old. 

If Gov. Wright had lived and died a stranger to the people of this state 
and nation, this brief essay on " The Flowers of the Spring," written for 
a little girl, would have convinced all who read it of his exquisite percep- 
tion of the beauties of nature, and of the purity and elegance of his mind, 
which could find " sermons" in flowers, and " good in every thing." 

" The season of flowers is beginning to open in this northern climate, 
and who is not tond of their quiet beauty and sweet fragrance ? The early 
spring brings forth the modest wild-flower of the hillside, which blooms 
for its season, and fades and withers away, and gives place to its successor, 
and it to another, and another, in a regular succession, until the frosts of 
autumn close the series. Eacli succession, in its day, is equally perfect 
in form and beauty, and tint and fragrance, according to its nature and 
race, — all equally displaying the wonderful perfection of that Almighty 
Power which has created all things, from the world we inhabit to the rose 
and the violci. 

" How strikingly emblematic of human life are the flowers of the gar- 
den and the field ! One is low and modest and simple ; another is tower- 
ing and gaudy and ostentatious. One is delicate in tint and rich in fra- 
grance ; another is glowing in colors, but wholly scentless. One is hardy 
and enduring under almost any change of the seasons ; another is delicate 



730 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

But while he was enjoying these quiet scenes of life, 
secluded from the political storms and hurricanes which 
howled around him, a mysterious Providence permitted 
the ansel of death to visit him. He died on the 27th 
day of August. 

It is remarkable how large a proportion of Americans 
highly distinguished for their talents and intellectual 
vigor, have died almost instantaneously, evidently by 
some sudden affection of the heart or the brain. De 
Witt Clinton, Thomas Addis Emmet, Mr. Webster, the 
brother of Daniel Webster, Henry R. Storrs, Silas 
Wright, and John Quincy Adams, besides many others, 
have in this way seen " the last of earth.'" Whether 
great mental power, does not occasion a disproportion- 
ate action between the nervous and vascular systems, is 
an inquiry which well merits the attention of learned 
physiologists. 

The Hon. J. Leslie Russell, of Canton, the intimate 
and confidential friend of Gov. Wright, in a letter, dated 
on the day of his death, to Comptroller Flagg, thus de- 
scribes the closing scene of the life of the great states- 
man : 

" About eight o'clock this morning, Mr. Wright came to 
the post-office for his mail. He was in apparent good health 

and sensitive, and shrinks from the shade and withers at the touch. Yet 
all spring up and bloom, and fade, and die, some in one stage of existence 
and some in another. 

" So with human life. The shades and casts of character are as vari- 
ous as the tints and fragrance of the flowers, and all bloom, and fade, and 
die, — some in infancy, some in the budding season of youth, some in ma- 
ture life, and some by the frosts of age ; but all, all die, and, as with flow- 
ers, the autumn and winter of years close the series with one generation 
to make room for another, and another, and another. 

" S. W. 

" Canton, April, 1847." 



DEATH OF MR. WRIGHT. 731 

and spirits — took his letters — sat down — opened one from 
Horace Moody — read it partly through — laid it down, with 
other letters — turned very pale, and Said to a friend present, 
' I feel quite ill.' The friend says, ' Your countenance shows 
that you are sick; shall I call a doctor?' Mr. Wright de- 
clmed having the physician sent for, saying that he had had two 
or three such turns before, and soon got reUef. He complained 
of a painful sense of suffocation about the heart. His friends 
present felt alarmed, and sent the third time for a physician 
before he came. Full one hour he sat in the post-office, con- 
versing with persons present, who felt intense anxiety about 
his health — he assuring them that he should soon be better. 

" The physician came to the post-office, gave him a mild 
anodyne, and a friend asked him to permit him to accompany 
him to the house. Mr. Wright says, ' Yes, and I will thank 
you to go with me : Dr. Clark, you come too.' 

" He walked calmly as usual to his house, the friend and 
doctor in company — laid down upon a bed with his clothes 
on, saying that he thought the medicine did not relieve him. 
The doctor gave orders for the application of drafts and other 
remedies, and left him. About ten o'clock, a. m., he died, as 
is supposed, from a rush of blood to the head. 

" Only last evening, Mr. Wright was employed in writing 
an address to the State Agricukm-al Society, to be deUvered 
at Saratoira next month. 

" The proximate cause of the sudden attack which has car- 
ried off oui- friend, is, too severe labor on his farm during the 
recent hot weather. He was, to my knowledge, aware of a 
tendency to apoplexy. His diet had been very simple, and he 
supposed that labor in the open air was the best antidote 
against the plethoric tendency of his constitution. 

" Yesterday I attended a funeral with him, and walked with 
him to the grave. He spoke of apoplexy in connection with 
the death of a friend from that disease, in a manner which in- 
duced me then to believe that he had a premonition of this 
dire calamity." 

To this unadorned narrative of the " sudden wrench 



732 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

from life's meridian joys" of one of the greatest men of 
the age, we shall only add a single sentence, which we 
quote from the eloquent " Discourse" of the Rev. Dr. 
Sprague, which he delivered at the Second Presbyterian 
Church in Albany, on the death of Mr. Wright : 

"At a moment," says the reverend orator, "when he has 
just completed his preparation for an important public service, 
and is making his arrangements to come among us again as a 
friendly visiter; oh, at this most unexpected moment 'his 
breath sroeth forth !' It seemed to those who looked on as if 
it must be some fearful illusion that had overtaken them ; or 
else as if the breath had gone only to come again : but it was 
no illusion ; — it was no temporary suspension of the vital en- 
ergy. Death, as if to show how he could sport with the 
strongest, had held that prince* in his grasp but a few mo- 
ments before he bid the agonized lookers on take notice how 
thoroughly he had done his work. And before the vital 
warmth has fled, the lightning is put in requisition to bear the 
heavy tidings over the land ; and the sun, in whose morning 
beams our friend rejoiced, has not sunk beneath the horizon, 
before the state, I had almost said the nation, is putting on 
her hahiliments of mom-ning, because she shall see his face no 



more." 



* Dr. Sprague had selected for his text that beautiful passage from the 
book of Psalms, " Put not your trust in princes'' &c. 



PROCEEDINGS ON HIS DEATH. 733 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Proceedings on the Death of Mr. Wright, at Albany — New York — Tam- 
many Society — State Legislature — Wisconsin — Presentation of Plate 
by the New York Merchants to Mrs. Wright — Funeral Sermon by 
Mr. Johnson — Remarks on the Character of Silas Wright. 

Never did the death of a private citizen of the state 
of New York produce. a sensation, throughout all ranks 
and every part of the community, so intense as the sud- 
den death of Mr. Wright. 

The common councils of the cities of New York and 
Albany, as soon as the melancholy news reached those 
cities, immediately assembled to express their respect 
for his character and merits, and their regret for the loss 
which the public had sustained by his death. The flags 
of the shipping in the port of New York were displayed 
at half-mast. The city of Albany set apart a day on 
which funeral honors should be paid to the deceased ; 
and the adjutant-general of the state, in pursuance of the 
directions of the governor, ordered that the national 
colors should on that day be displayed on the capitol 
and state arsenal, and that minute guns should be fired 
from 12 to 2 o'clock. The Tammany Society of New 
York passed resolutions expressive of " its high respect 
for the distinguished dead," and that its members should 
wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

On the 9th of September Gov. Young addressed to 
the legislature of this state, who, iti pursuance of an ad- 
journuient previously made, h:)fi assembled on the pre- 

62 



734 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

ceding day, the following special message, equally cred- 
itable to himself and honorable to the memory of his 
great competitor at the last election : 



" Executive Chamber, ) 
Alhamj, Sept. 9, 1847. j 

" To THE Legislature — 

" Silas Wright, the late chief magistrate of this state, died 
at his residence in Canton, iu the county of St. Lawrence, on 
the 2'7th day of August last. 

" Although scarcely arrived at the meridian of life, he had 
not only held the office of governor of this state, but had dis- 
charged, with singular ability, the various duties pertaining to 
the offices of state senator, comptroller, and senator in the 
congress of the United States. 

" As a statesman he occupied a high place among the dis- 
tinguished public men of the age. 

" In private life he enjoyed, in an eminent degree, the re- 
spect and esteem of those to whom he was personally known. 

" Although his name will go down to posteiity without the 
aid of official records, his eminent public services and great 
private worth render it proper that I should thus announce 
to you his death, to the end that such measures may be 
adopted as are demanded by the deep feeling that pervades 
the community. 

" John Young." 



When this message was communicated to the legisla- 
ture, a joint committee of the two houses was appointed, 
who reported resolutions highly laudatory of the talents, 
services, and patriotism of the late governor, and direct- 
ing that the members should wear badges of mourning 
and grief Mr. Perkins, from St. Lawrence, in the as- 
sembly, and Mr. J. A. Spencer, in the senate, delivered 
impressive and eloquent eulogies on the deceased states- 



LEGISLATURE OF WISCONSIN. 735 

man, who had been so long known to the public, and so 
highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens. 

The most respectable public journals throughout the 
nation joined in the general lamentation, and public 
bodies in several of the other states of the Union mani- 
fested their esteem for Gov. Wright, and their deep re- 
gret for the loss which the nation had sustained by his 
untimely death. The Young Men's Democratic Asso- 
ciation of the city and county of Philadelphia assembled, 
and, on their invitation, the Hon. Henry D. Gilpin, at- 
torney-general of the United States, delivered an elo- 
quent eulogy upon Mr. Wright. Even at the far West, 
in the (then) territory of Wisconsin, Gov. Dodge, in his 
annual message to the territorial legislature, thus speaks 
of the deceased patriot : 

" Since the last annual session of the legislative assembly, 
Silas Wkight, a great statesman of the Empire state of the 
Union, has fallen by the hand of death, in the meridian of his 
life and usefulness to the country. When a member of the 
United States senate, he was an able supporter of the rights 
of the people of Wisconsin. He was in favor of a system of 
policy, tending to promote her agricultural and commercial 
interests. He was a firm patriot, a sagacious statesman, a 
friend of equal rights and universal freedom. For his self- 
sacrifices as a politician for what he believed would promote 
the best interests of his country, he has justly been called the 
* Cato of America.' " 

To which the legislature responded by the adoption 
of the following appropriate resolution : 

" Whereas, The dignity and power of a state, no less than 
the prosperity and happiness of its people, depend, in an emi- 
nent degree, upon the wisdom, integrity, and patriotism of its 
citizens. And whereas the legislative assembly of Wisconsin 
recognise, in the life of the late Silas Wright, of New York, all 



736 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

that could iidoni and dignify the character of the citizen, the 
statesman, and the patriot ; therefore, be it 

" Resolved, By the council and house of representatives of the 
territory of Wisconsin, That in his death the nation has lost 
one of its brightest orn;iments, the commerce of the West one of 
its ablest advocates, Wisconsin one of its warmest friends and 
supporters, and the cause of universal freedom one of the bold- 
est and most incorruptible of its champions." 

We have heretofore alluded to the fact, tiiat previous 
lo the death of Gov. Wright, the merchants of the city 
of New York had commenced preparing a splendid suit 
of plate to present to him. He died before the work- 
men had completed the manufacture of it. 

After his death, the merchants determined to deliver 
the pkite to Mrs. Wright ; and Gen. Dix was appointed 
to receive; in her name, the magnificent donation. It is 
reported that the value of the plate was from eighteen 
to twentv thousand dollars. It was delivered to Gen. 
Dix, by a committee of merchants, on the 18th of No- 
vember. On that occasion Mr. John D. Van Buren, a 
member of the committee, made a brief address, which 
was so exceedingly appropriate, and highly finished in 
style and manner, and so enriched with just and patri- 
otic sentiments, that we wish our limits would permit us 
to copy the whole of it. 

" We have," said Mr. Van Buren, addressing General 
Dix, " asked you to meet us this evening to receive, in behalf 
of Mrs. Wright, this service of plate. It was prepared as a 
gift from the merchants of this citv to Silas Wriofht. His death 
prevented the fulfilment of oui- wishes. 

" An occasion to which we looked forward as one of high 
and unmixed pleasure, Providence has decreed should be a 
sad one. We hoped to tell him our high estimate of his pub- 
lic services — that we shared in the confidence and pride with 



PRESENTATION OF SERVICE OF PLATE. 737 

which the people of this state regarded him ; that in this busy 
mart of commerce, devoted to gain, his simple, earnest, truly 
republican character, was known and appreciated. We can 
now only with pain think of his noble qualities. They re- 
mind us of the sad loss the state and the country have s\d- 
fered, 

" His character was one singularly attractive to our people, 
retaining, to the last, qualities most apt to be worn away in 
the struggles of public life. Modest, simple in his manners, 
gentle, true to his friends, true to his duties, utterly unselfish, 
lie secured the confidence and affection of the people." 

The following beautiful paragraph concludes the ad- 
dress : 

" To you, who were his friend, his well-esteemed friend, we 
confide the task of conveying our gift to the widow of Silas 
Wright. We can offer with it no consolation but the poor 
one, that she is not alone in her sorrow ; the blow which fell 
with its chief intensity upon her, was felt deeply, widely, 
throughout the nation. Convey it to her in token of our last- 
ing remembrance of him, and of the high regard in which we 
must ever hold her, whom he chose to be his nearest friend in 
life, and who has the deepest interest in that fame which is all 
that is left to her and to the country, of Silas Wright." 

Mrs. Wright subsequently acknowledged the receipt 
of this rich and valuable present by the following note, 
addressed to Gerardus Boyce, Esquire: 

" Canton, January 22, 1848. 

"Dear Sir: — Tn your letter of the 26th November, coTn- 
raunicating to me the arrangement you had made for tiie de- 
livery of the service of plate, designed to have been presented 
to my lamented husband, you desire to be informed of its safe 
transmission and deUvery to me. 

" My brother, Mr. Hoi'ace Moody, anived at Canton on the 
1.5th of January instant, and brouglit with him this rich testi- 
monial of esteem and friendship for him whose death has left 

62* 



738 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 

me desolate. If any thing could alleviate the weight of my 
affliction in tlie loss of all that was really valuable to me ia 
life, it would be the constant proofs that my grief is shared by 
true and faithful friends, to many of whom I am personally a 
stranger. 

" This service of plate, valuable for the massive richness of 
the material, is still more valuable for the rare beauty and me- 
chanical skill displayed in its manufacture ; but its chief value 
to me is, that it is an evidence of the esteem and friendship of 
the donors for one whose memory is all that is left to me on 
earth. 

" To you, sir, and to the gentlemen with whom you have 
been associated, and who selected you as their agent to pre- 
paie this token of friendship and esteem, designed for my 
departed husband, I can only give my sincere and heartfelt 
thanks. " Yours, respectfully, 

" Clarissa Wright." 

The funeral of Gov. Wright drew together an im- 
mense concourse of people. " I attended his funeral," 
says a gentleman who resides in St. Lawrence county, 
in a letter to the author. " The concourse of people 
was greater than I have ever before witnessed in this 
county, (except our political assemblies.) It seemed as 
thouQfh each Individual felt that hp. had lost a snecial 
friend, and was there a mourner. When his [MrW^right's] 
old friend and fellow-student spoke of him, the flow of 
tears was as universal in the audience as was the sense 
of hearing." 

The gentleman referred to by our correspondent as 
the " old friend and fellow-student" of Mr. Wright, was 
the Rev. H. S. Johnson, from whom we h^ve several 
times quoted. The funeral sermon of Mr. Johnson has 
been printed, and is before us. He selected for his text 
the beautiful passage contained in Isaiah, ch. xl. 6-8. 



MR. Johnson's sermon. 739 

After a brief exordium, Mr. Johnson says — 

" In view of the afflicting realities before us, even that cheer- 
fuhiess which would be commendable in our ordinary avoca- 
tions, would become criminal levity. Every thing tells that 
this is an occasion for serious and solemn meditation. The 
voice of God bids me cry that ' all flesh is grass, and all the 
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : the grass 
withereth, the flower fadeth : because the Spirit of the Lord 
bloweth upon il : surely the people is grass. The grass with- 
ereth, the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand 
forever.' 

" How afl"ectingly are these divine declarations verified be- 
fore our eyes ! Only a few hours have passed since Governor 
Wright was with us, in all the buoyancy of firm health. If 
to any the sun of life might seem high and promise a long day, 
it was so to him. But that sun went down in a moment, and all 
is dark. The Great Architect bid the wheels of life stop, and 
no finite power can move them. Without flickering in the 
least, the lamp is extinguished, and the gloom is absolute — it 
is darkness that may be felt. 

" Standing as we now do, where the widest prospects have 
instantly been enveloped with clouds, and where the highest 
hopes of all that is earthly have fled, our thoughts naturally 
turn back along the path through which Mr. Wright ascended 
to the most distinguishing honors and the most commanding 
influence. 

" My acquaintance with this friend commenced in the year 
1811. In early life we were treading together the halls of 
science. 1 knew him there as an industrious and diligent stu- 
dent, and as one of the most upright and sober young men. 
I say this from positive personal knowledge, and I say it firmly, 
because I have heard misapprehension intimate that Gov. 
Wright was then indulging in some excesses. He was there 
distinguished for moral honesty, and for an unbending regard 
to the truth. His inflexible attachment to truth and fairness 
was there, as it has been through all his life, proverbial. I 
have heard from those who could not be mistaken, that even 



740 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

in the days of his earliest childhood, his regard to truth and 
fair dealing was known, and marked, and controlling. These 
principles, thus deeply infixed, did much in laying the founda- 
tion for his unexampled elevation in after-life. 

" Mr. Wright graduated with honor and respect. Having 
completed his preparatory legal studies, and being licensed as 
an attorney, in October, 1819, he became an inhabitant of this 
town. The efficiency and success with wliich he conducted 
the business of his profession are too well known, and too 
vividly recollected, to require being repeated. One of his 
leading traits in his profession was to discountenance and do 
away all low and scurrilous litigation. '''•' * * * 

" There is something peculiar and extraordinary in the on- 
ward progress through which Mr. Wright ascended, amid ac- 
cumulating honors and responsibilities. Without powerful 
friends, he secured, by his own unaided efforts, the patronage 
of the state and the nation. * '* * * 

" In the old world a nation is afflicted when their prince 
expires. But there the statesmen are organized and trained 
to fill the vacated space. In America it is different. Our 
nation is in its infancy — the experiment we are making is new 
— the hopes and interests of the world are identified with our 
success. Every thing with us is moulding and forming. Of 
necessity, conflicting claims will arise and threaten with disaster 
the best hopes of the country. With us the loss of a far-seeing 
and able statesman, who enjoys the cheerful suffrages of the 
great majority, is not only afflicting, but it may be perilous." 

The peroration of this eloquent address is highly pa- 
thetic and inimitably beautiful, and with it we conclude 
the LiKK OF Silas Wright. 

"We can scarcely suppose," says the orator, " that such 
an ;itfecting example of the uncertainty of life, as this provi- 
dence arrays before us, can fail of impressing serious reflections 
on the minds of all. It is difficult for me to imagine that de- 
gree of apathy and insensibiHty which will resist such a warn- 
ing. Can one of the pillars of the nation be removed, and we 
feel it not ? Can a friend the most familiar and kind retire, 



CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 741 

and we heed it not ? No. Our friend, thou hast waved us a 
long adieu, and we are overwhelmed ! No more shall thy 
vigilance watch with solicitude the interests of our country ! 
No more will thy voice, from the legislative halls, electrify the 
nation ! No more shall thy smiles gladden the home which 
was ever happy in thy presence ! Thou hast given up that 
home to loneliness, to solitude, and sorrow ! Dark is the cloud 
which spreads over the habitation of thy widowed compan- 
ion ! Anscuish thrills in all our hearts as we bid thee adieu, 
and lay thy remains down to rest in the slumber of the grave !" 

We shall not attempt to portray minutely the charac- 
ter of Silas Wright. That portraiture is best delinea- 
ted by the record of the story of his life. His candor, 
his integrity of purpose, his unaffected modesty, his be- 
nevolence, his great and vigorous intellectual power, 
which always rendered him equal to any emergency, 
and his lofty patriotism, are manifest in every act, and 
in every stage of his private and public life. There are, 
however, a few prominent features in the character of 
his mind, which, in reviewing his history, stand out in 
such bold relief, that it may be proper barely to allude 
to them. 

One of the qualities for which he was more distin- 
guished than almost any other man, was the entire ab- 
sence of all selfishness, and an unbounded devotion to 
the interest and wishes of his friends, and to the cause of 
the political party to which he belonged. Perhaps men, 
scrupulously sensitive to error, may think that Mr. 
Wrio-ht sometimes yielded too much to what he deemed 
the interest of his own political party, and may refer to 
his conduct in the senate of this state in 1824, in rela- 
tion to an electoral law, and his course in the United 
States house of representatives in 1828, on the tariff bill. 
'I'hese are the only instances in which, during more than 



742 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

twenty years' public service, charges of this nature cam 
be made against him with even the semblance of plausi- 
bility. But it must not be forgotten that Mr. Wright 
sincerely believed that the ascendency of the party to 
which he belonged was essential to secure and promote 
the prosperity of his country, and its highest and most 
vital interest. While therefore we protest against the 
casuistic and false position, that the end justifies the 
means, or that one should "' do evil that good may 
come," we insist that Mr. Wright may have conscien- 
tiously yielded his own judgment to that of the majority 
of his political friends on trifling and unimportant ques- 
tions, for the purpose of contributing to that union and 
harmony among them, which was absolutely necessary 
in order to prevent their total prostration by the adverse 
party. Possibly, in the solitary instances mentioned, he 
may have erred, but such errors were those of the head, 
and not of his pure and honest heart. 

In proof of his readiness to sacrifice his own ease and 
quiet, and his most favorite predilections, for the grati- 
fication of his friends, and the supposed advancement 
of the cause in which he was embarked, we refer to the 
consent which, with the most painful reluctance, he 
yielded to take upon himself the government of this 
state against his expressed wishes, and against what he 
knew to be his personal interest ; and that he made this 
sacrifice partly with the view of securing the election of 
a man to the office of president of the United States, 
whose nomination to that office he had opposed. We 
may also, as evidence of his utter disregard to self- 
aggrandizement, his devotion to his friends, and his nice 
and high sense of honor, remind the reader of his refusal 
of a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the na- 



CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 743 

tion, also of the second office in the government, and 
his declining a competition for the first. 

" He was," says the Rev. Dr. Sprague, in his sermon 
from which we have quoted in the preceding chapter, 
"gifted with uncommon perception of the fitting and 
graceful in all the relations of life. While he had a high 
respect for plebeian honesty, and could, as occasion re- 
quired, put on the plebeian himself, there was no circle 
of society so polished, but that he was as much at home 
in it as if it were the only sphere in which he had ever 
moved." His temper must have been by nature un- 
commonly peaceful and quiet. What politician has ex- 
isted, either in England or America, who for twenty 
years was a leading and efficient member of a legisla- 
tive body, a zealous and active party leader, and who 
had taken a decided part in all the exciting debates 
which legislation called forth, who was never drawn 
into a personal controversy, and who never wounded 
the feelings of the most sensitive opponent ? Yet such 
a man was Silas Wrigjit. 

We will mention one other distinguishing trait in the 
character of the mind of Mr. Wright — a trait to which, 
in connection with his great talents and merit, he owed 
his splendid and uniform success in life. Though he 
possessed all the mental faculties incident to the human 
intellect, in great perfection and vigor, they were re- 
markably well balanced. "His blood and judgment 
were so well commingled" that he was always, even 
during the most exciting scenes, calm and quiet, self- 
possessed, and self-governed. He was firm, but not 
obstinate ; benevolent, but not imprudent ; cool and 
calculating, but not selfish ; convivial, but not a devotee 
of pleasure ; economical, but not avaricious ; imagina- 



74 1 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 

live, but not visionary ; and an ardent friend, but liberal 
and kind to his opponents. 

From the life of Silas Wright, the youth of our coun- 
try may derive lessons of inestimable value. 

"He has taught us," says Mr. Attorney-general Gilpin, in 
his eulogy on Mr. Wright, delivered before an association of 
young men in Philadelphia, " that unruffled content may be 
won ; that the loftiest fame may be reached ; that social rela- 
tions, various and refined, may be happily enjoyed ; that be- 
neficence may be largely practised, in all its shades of public 
service and private intercourse, without the possession, nay, 
without the desire, of fortune, beyond the humblest compe- 
tence. He has tau"-ht us that influence, and station, and 
power, may be used without once seeking to pervert them to 
a selfish or unworthy purpose ; thcit manly adherence to po- 
litical opinions, carefully formed and honestly maintained, is 
never inconsistent wilh the great obligations of conciliation, 
forbearance, and generous compiomise ; that honors declined 
can confer more happiness and gloiy than those which are re- 
ceived ; that intelligence the bnghtest, in a sphere the most 
conspicuous, derives new lustre and wields more power from 
a modesty always unassuming, and a temper wliich never 
wounds ; and, above all, that the blessings of domestic life, so 
endearing and attractive, may ever be preserved unsullied to 
ttoothe and cheer the hours most devoted to our country's ser- 
vice. If, indeed, this great and good man cxliihitcd — as who 
can doubt ? — the severe virtue, the steady pui po.ie, tlie devoted 
patriotism, and the broad philanthropy thiit marked the char- 
acter of the Roman stntesman. let us not forget that he has 
taught us to blend with them a spirit more yentle and forbear- 
ing — that spirit which should distinguish a people whose 
bond is one of justice, reason, and affection, and to whom 
have been revealed the divine lessons of a milder and purer 
faith." 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE— REFERRED TO IN PAGE 491. 

After the preceding sheets were in type the author received 
two orio-inal letters, on the subject of the nomination for the 
office of governor by the democratic state convention, written 
by Mr. Wright in 1844. These letters were written at Can- 
ton, three days before the meeting of the convention at Syra- 
cuse, and, beyond all doubt, express frankly and truly his 
feelings and wishes at that time. It is due to his memory 
that they should be published in connection with the history 
of his life ; because, — although during the winter and summer 
of 1844, and until he was actually nominated for governor at 
Syracuse, Mr. Wright repeatedly and uniformly declared, as 
he had done in 1842,* that he was unwilling to be a candidate 
for that office — that he earnestly desired the nomination of 
some other person — and that he would not be a candidate 
ao-ainst any repubUcan competitor in the convention, — many 
persons who thought Gov. Bouck ought to be renominated, 
(and the author was one of them,) believed, from the fact that 
several of Mr. Wright's most confidential friends urged, and 
continued at the convention to urge the nomination of Mr. W., 
that such nomination would not be entirely disagreeable to 
him. If any such suspicion is at this day entertained, the fol- 
lowing letters must dispel all doubt from the minds of the 
most skeptical. 

These letters must have been dehvered to Messrs. Allen and 
Russell, who were delegates from St. Lawrence county, at the 



• See Gov. Wright's letter to Judge Fine, page 307. 

63 



746 APPENDIX. 

moment of their departure for Syracuse, as they bear date the 
31st of August, and the convention met on the 2d of Septem- 
ber. One of the letters was addressed to those gentlemen in 
their official capacity, probably with the view that it should 
be communicated to the convention, or to some of its leading 
members ; and the other, which we have marked B, on which 
was inscribed the word "private," in Gov. Wright's own hand- 
wriling, was sacredly coniidential. Can there be the least pos- 
sible doubt that this letter, which was intended to contain, and 
did contain, the last words of Mr. Wright on the subject of 
the gubernatorial nomination, and which was addressed to the 
delegates from his own county, both of whom were his per- 
sonal friends, speaks the honest sentiments of his heart ? 

In this communication Mr. Wright not only disclaims any 
wish to be a candidate, or indeed any desire for the office of 
governor, but there runs through the whole of it a tone of 
supplication and entreaty that his two friends would exert their 
most strenuous efforts to relieve him from the necessity of 
making the sacrifice " of personal feeling, domestic feeling, 
private interest, and public prospects for the future" — a sacri- 
fice which he foresaw would result from his acceptance of the 
office of governor. 

The author is indebted for these letters to the courtesy and 
kindness of the Hon. Horace Allen and the Hon. John Fine, 
to whom the originals will be returned. 

[A.] 

"Canton, August 31, 1844. 

"Gentlemen — As the delegates to represent this county in the state 
convention, to be held tit Syracuse on the 4th day of the next month, I 
find it necessary to trouble you with a comnuuiication of a personal char- 
acter. 

" You are well aware that my name has been used in connection with 
tht> nomination of a republican candidate for the office of governor of the 
state, a nomination which the convention of which you are members \h to 
rn;ike. I believe you also know that I do not desire that office, and that 
my name has been used as a candidate for it without my consent, and 
against my wishes. 



APPENDIX. 747 

That you may be possessed of the position which I have felt myself 
compelled publicly to assume upon this subject, I hand you, enclosed, a 
copy of a publication made in the St. Lawrence Republican, at my re- 
quest, on the sixth day of the present month. By that position it has 
been, and is my purpose — as I consider it to be my duty — strictly to adhere ; 
and if any use of my name, since it was thus distinctly assumed, has 
seemed to be in conflict with it, I can only say, that it has been without 
my authority, as it has been against my determinations thus explicitly 
pronounced. I cannot expre.«s more reluctance than I feel against the use 
of my name as a candidate for the office of governor, under any circum- 
stances ; and 1 have only been restrained from going further, in limiting, 
or wholly interdicting that use, from the fear that I should transcend my 
rights as a member of the democratic parly of the state, in the present 
enjoyment of its iiouors and rewards, or violate my duty to that great 
political party which has been so faithful and liberal to me through a long 
term of years. 

" The length to which I have gone appears to me to be in strict accord- 
ance with my rights and my duties. To refuse to become the instruinenl 
of an interruption of the harmony of feeling or action of the doiiiocratic 
party of our state, is an obligation upon me, strengthened and enforced by 
every favor I have received from it, and every honor it has conferred 
upon me, and not lo obey it would be, in my estimation, the most paljju- 
ble violation of a plain duty on my part. 

" Hence I have said that, ' I have no right, in my judgment, to be- 
come, and cannot, under any circumstances, consent to be made a com- 
petitor for the nomination, either before the people or the state convention, 
against any republican who is, or who may become a candidate.' 

" Before the people I have done all in my power to avoid being placed 
in the position of a competitor for this nomination ; and I now invoke 
your aid to enable me, if it shall become necessary, to redeem my pledge.. 
as it respects the convention. I entertain the confident hope that you 
will not, under any circumstances, feel it to be your duty, as delegates 
from this county, to place my name before the convention at all ; and 
should it be brought before it by others, in a manner to place it in con- 
flict or competition with any other name before the body as a candidate, 
I not only authorize you severally, but enjoin it upon you, so far as you 
will permit me to do that, or so far as I have the right of a constituent to 
do it, to withdraw it wholly, and to declare for me, that I cannot accept 
a nomination made against a resistance of the friends of any other candi- 
date. The only right of our party to command the use of my name, -is 
I think, is to secure its harmony of feeling and action ; and when these 
cannot be secured by its use, the duty upon mo promptly to withdraw it 
altogether, appears to me as plain as the right to do so does clear and un- 
questionable. 

*' 1 am sure, gentlemen, you each sufficiently know and appreciate my 



748 APPENDIX. 

feelings upon this delicate and responsible subject to be willing to comply 
with the request I make, when you are assured it is made more strongly 
under the sense of a solemn and imperious public duty, which I should 
not fail fully to discharge, than in the spirit of the assertion of a right, al- 
though to be exercised so much in accordance with my personal feelings 
and wishes. 

" I am, gentlemen, with great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Silas Wright. 
" Messrs. Horace Allen and John L. Russell, Esqrs., Delegates, &,c." 



(private.) [ B- ] 

" Canton, August 31, 1844. 

My Dear Sir — Enclosed I hand you a duplicate of the communication 
of which we spoke, and which I promised to place in the hands of your- 
self and Mr. Russell in tiie course of our conversatiou on Thursday. I 
have made duplicates, because it may be more convenient that both Mr. 
Russell and yourself should have a copy, and I place the other in his 
hands. I do not kuow that I can add any thing to the views wliicli I 
offered in that conversation, and what I have said in the enclosed. //' 
the renominntion of Gov. Bouck can he made mtisfnntory to the conren- 
tton and our party, I shall be most happy at such a result.* If that 
cannot be done, and the convention can agree to set aside both his nam.'; 
and mine, and take that of some worthy member of the party who hat* 
not been brought before the public, I verily believe more entire harmony 
of feeling and action will be likely lo be secured. In any event, I can- 
not look upon my nomination as promising aLispIcious rceuits, presi-nl or 
future ; and I cannot be mistaken in iiisistinir that my name should not 
be used in any event, but icith the free assent of the friends of nil other 
candidates, and moat especially those of Gov. B. I do not anticipate 
that such assent will be met with, and I entreat that Mr. Russell and 
yourself will not hesitate for a moment to withdraw my name wholly, in 
case it shall be brought before the convention, and shall become the sub- 
ject of any difference of opinion or feeling among its members. 

" It must be true that, if entire harmony cannot be experienced, my 
name should not be made the cause of any degree of division. My posi- 
tion and the place I now hold should forbid that, and should distinguish 
me fjom other candidates not similarly situated, if there is to be division. 
Flence I have given to the communication enclosi^d the shape I have, and 
this is the spirit in which I have made the request it contains, and in 
which I wish to have that request understood and carried out. 

* The p;is.sages m italics liave been so chstaiguisUed by J. D. II. 



APPENDIX. 749 

"You will pardon me, I hope, for referring hero to my personal feel- 
ings upon this subject. / cannot, as I have said, express more reluc- 
tance than I feel against being a candidate for this office, under any 
circumstances, and my reasons rest upon considerations of personal feel- 
ing, domestic feeling, private interest, and public prospects for the future, 
KO far as I can read them, as connected with myself and my services. J 
will not attempt to detail these considerations to you as they pass through 
my own mind, but will express the earnest hope, that Mr. Russell and 
yourself will find it consistent with your scn.se of your responsible duties as 
members of the convention, so far from using efforts to throw this nomi- 
nation upon me, to be the means of averting that result. I do not aak 
you to violate any duty to the public to favor my personal wishes, but I 
do hope that it may be found expedient not to attempt the use of my name 
at all ; and if brought before the convention, I will rest assured that both 
of you will be prompt to withdraw it wholly, the moment the contingency 
shall happen upon which I have based that request. 

" Pardon me for giving you so much trouble. I shall not give Mr. 
Russell a copy of this private note, but shall read this to him before I en- 
close it for you. 

" You must not considtr me, in either of these communications, as 
holding or treating lightly our success in the state at the pending elec- 
tion. With harmony of feeling and action, success is, in my deliberate 
opinion, perfectly in the power of our party, and I will make any sacri- 
fice in my power to produce that harmony. Still, with it, I do not think 
it at all material what name is upon our ticket for governor : succean 
would, in my judgment, be equally certain with any ; while, without it, 
there will be danger with any name, and I should not be the man to ap- 
pear to cause division. These are my convictions, most deeply enter- 
tained. 

" In much haate, I am most truly yours, 

" Silas Wright. 

" Hon. Horace Allen." 



THE END. 



< 



<f' 



,-^' 



